U.N. team seeks Taleban help

This visit follows de Mul's meeting with Taleban officials in Kandahar earlier in May

KABUL, Afghanistan -- A U.N. delegation has arrived in the Afghan capital Kabul to talk to the ruling Taleban movement about impediments to relief work in the country.

The delegation representing various United Nations agencies and headed by its humanitarian coordinator for Afghanistan, Erick de Mul, is expected to meet Taleban authorities including its foreign and planning ministers.

The visit comes against the backdrop that some Taleban were harassing U.N. staff trying to give humanitarian aid to impoverished Afghans.

The U.N. says its workers have been repeatedly blocked from giving aid to communities in the area of Hazarajat, where fighting between the Taleban and its rivals, the opposition Northern Alliance, has displaced more than 60,000 people.

"We are going to discuss a number of issues that we have been talking about in Kandahar. It is basically about the operational environment," de Mul said.

WFP warning

The World Food Program has warned that it will be forced to close down a subsidized bread project because the Taleban refuse to allow it to hire local women to carry out a survey to identify the genuinely needy.

The U.N. coordinator said his delegation would raise the issue of the WFP survey.

The Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press reported on Saturday that the Taleban insist that they will not compromise their Islamic principles by allowing women to work for the WFP.

The WFP has been warning the Taleban for more than a year that a survey is important to be sure that the bread, distributed to 282,000 people at 12 percent of the retail price, is reaching those who need it most.

CNN.com Asia More news from our Asia edition

The WFP also says that women are necessary for the survey because men cannot enter homes to interview women under the strict Taleban rules.

Frequent conflicts

The Taleban have had frequent conflicts with foreign-funded organizations, the U.N. and several private aid groups that provide most of the social services in Afghanistan over the question of women workers.

Since gaining power in Kabul in 1996 the Taleban have banned women from almost all education and outdoor work.

Ten days ago, the Taleban's religious police, the most powerful organ in the hardline movement, raided an Italian-funded hospital in Kabul where they said female and male staff had eaten in the same room.

Reuters contributed to this report.