WEB DESK
As anger over al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri’s presence in Kabul was one of the main reasons behind the decision not to extend a United Nations waiver allowing Taliban officials to travel abroad, people familiar with the matter said.
Zawahri, who led the terror network following the death of Osama bin Laden in 2011, was killed in a US drone strike in Kabul on August 1. At the time, Zawahiri was sheltering in a house in central Kabul owned by a top aide to Taliban deputy leader and interior minister Sirajuddin Haqqani.
In June, a UN Security Council sanctions committee currently led by India voted to remove two middle-ranking Taliban leaders from a sanctions exemption list because of the Taliban’s failure to deliver on pledges to protect the rights of women and children.
When the renewal of the sanctions exemption list for 13 other Taliban leaders came up before the sanctions committee last month, the US proposed re-imposing the travel ban on seven Taliban leaders and retaining the exemption for six others while limiting their travel to Qatar, the people said.
