Afghanistan's ambassador to the UN has pulled out of delivering an address to world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly later Monday, a UN spokesperson said. 

Ghulam Isaczai, who represented ousted president Ashraf Ghani's government, had been due to defy the Taliban with a speech but his name was removed from the list of speakers early Monday. 

"The country withdraws its participation in the general debate," Monica Grayley, a spokeswoman for the assembly's president, confirmed to AFP.

(Cover: Ghulam Isaczai, Afghanistan's permanent representative to the United Nations who is part of ousted president Ashraf Ghani's cabinet, addresses the Security Council on August 16, 2021. /AFP)