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Irked by the findings of a United Nation's committee that it is ignoring sanctions slapped on the Taleban in Afghanistan, Pakistan has questioned the integrity of the panel and attacked the embargo imposed by the Security Council as an "unjust instrument" which is doomed to fail.
Describing the panel's findings as "baseless allegations" Pakistan's ambassador to the UN, Shamshed Ahmed, rejected its suggestion that a monitoring mechanism should be set up to ensure that sanctions were properly implemented.
Such a mechanism would be used to unjustly implicate Pakistan, he said but did not elaborate.
Addressing the council during an open debate on the panel report, he said Islamabad was opposed to the sanctions but as a "responsible and law abiding" member of the UN, it would fully implement them.
Pakistan is one of the three countries which recognise the Taleban regime.
Ahmed, a former foreign secretary, said sanctions were to blame for the exodus of Afghans to Pakistan and other problems confronting the war-ravaged nation.
"The Afghan problem is not about the Taleban. Nor is it about terrorism and drugs alone. But it is about 25 million Afghans who continue to suffer," he said.
The UN should engage the Taleban rather than isolate them and work with the regime keeping in view its religious and cultural sensitivities, he said.
The sanctions were imposed to force Taleban hand over Saudi terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden to the US.
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