By APP,
United Nations : The new U.N. envoy to Afghanistan has just wrapped two days of meetings with United States officials in Washington during which they expressed their full support for the world body’s efforts in the strife-torn nation, the U.N. said Wednesday.
Kai Eide, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), met with President George W. Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defence Secretary Robert Gates.
Eide and President Bush discussed the upcoming Paris conference in support of the Afghan Government, the importance of the upcoming elections and Eide’s key coordination role.
“They agreed that this is a crucial moment for Afghanistan,” UN spokesperson Marie Okabe told reporters at UN Headquarters in New York.
The past several days have witnessed an escalation in terrorist attacks in the country, including a suicide bombing Tuesday that killed a number of civilians in the country’s eastern Nangarhar province, and an attack on a parade in Kabul on Sunday that was attended by President Hamid Karzai and other dignitaries.
Karzai who has survived three assassination attempts in recent years escaped uninjured in the attack,which claimed the lives of two Parliament members and injured nine others, including two Afghan National Police officers.
Eide now heads to Ottawa, where he will meet with senior Canadian officials to discuss support for UN activities in Afghanistan ahead of the Paris conference.