By KUNA
Kabul : Two European diplomats accused of “harming the national interests” of Afghanistan left the country on Thursday, Afghan officials at the Foreign Ministry said.
The two officials, Michael Semple of the European Union (EU) and Mervyn Patterson of the UK, were accused of meeting representatives of the Taliban and holding talks with them. UN officials in Afghanistan, however, refute the allegations the two officials had held any secret talks with the militants.
The Afghan government had asked the two officials to leave the country by Thursday. Since the expulsion orders, talks have continued between the foreign officials and the Afghan government to avert their expulsion; however, the efforts ended without any success, said an official, who wished not to be named.
According to the source, Michael Semple was EU’s deputy representative for Afghanistan and Marvin Peterson was a staffer of the United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA).
A UNAMA spokesperson in Kabul confirmed the two officials had left the country this morning in compliance with the orders of the Afghan government. Earlier, another UNAMA spokesman Aleem Siddiqi had told journalists that the expulsion was due to some misunderstanding.
Meanwhile, a provincial governor said the two officials had held a meeting with Taliban. Governor of Helmand province Asadullah Wafa told a news conference on Thursday that they had met Taliban representatives in Musa Qala district of Helmand. The expulsion is the first incident of its type during the previous five years in Afghanistan.