a Sufi master. Afghanistan's UN Ambassador After the fall of the communist government of Afghanistan and the start of the government of Burhanuddin Rabbani, Farhadi served as Afghanistan's ambassador to the United Nations. Farhadi presented his credentials as Ambassador Permanent Representative of Afghanistan to the United Nations Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali on 30 April 1993. Even when the Taliban had taken control of most of Afghanistan, the government of Burhanuddin Rabbani continued to represent Afghanistan at the United Nations, with Farhadi as the UN Ambassador representing Afghanistan until the end of 2006. The Taliban, in spite of the strong support of Pakistan, never represented Afghanistan in the United Nations. Since 1993, Farhâdi has served as Vice Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People at United Nations Headquarters in New York. Farhadi is known for his strong commitment to the Palestinian rights but has also acknowledged Israel's right to exist. After his period as diplomat, with American scholar Ibrahim Gamard, he translated into English all the quatrains of the Sufi Tajik poet Maulana Jalal ad-Din Rumi. Political views Farhadi has been highly critical of Pakistan, saying it is supporting the Taliban. Farhadi was in favour of a government composed of all of Afghanistan's ethnic communities, including Uzbeks, Tajiks, Hazaras, Baluchs and Pashtuns, but rejected the idea of US Secretary of State Colin Powell to include moderate Taliban members in the next government. During the presidential elections of 2009, in which Abdullah Abdullah was the main challenger of Karzai, Farhadi spoke in favour of Abdullah, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs. After the fall of the Taliban, Farhadi tried to put pressure on the US government to give more aid to Afghanistan, especially to compensate the families who lost civilian family members in US bombings. References External links 1929 births Living people Afghan diplomats Permanent Representatives of Afghanistan to the United Nations University of Paris alumni Academic staff of the University of Paris University of California, Berkeley College of Letters and Science faculty Iranologists Afghan expatriates in Germany