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Talks on Afghan govt structure face hard choices on names
Talks on Afghanistan`s future hit the final stretch Tuesday after the Northern Alliance gave in to strong US pressure and finally presented candidates for posts in an interim administration.
Talks on Afghanistan's future hit the final stretch Tuesday after the Northern Alliance gave in to strong US pressure and finally presented candidates for posts in an interim administration.
Tense diplomacy preceded the breakthrough, with the US accusing the fractious alliance of attempting to block an accord and a US official calling its leader in Kabul, Burhanuddin Rabbani, to press him not to risk the collapse of talks. On Tuesday, UN mediators start trying to meld the Northern Alliance's names with proposals by the three other delegations - envoys of former King Mohammad Zaher Shah and two smaller exile groups - to come up with the interim administration.
That bargaining could take two more days, a US diplomat said. It's not going to be easy, said UN spokesman Ahmad Fawzi. It's going to take some hard choices.
The Northern Alliance officially brought four names into play Monday as possible head of a 29-member executive body foreseen in a UN plan for Afghanistan's political future, the first step toward restoring order after 23 years of war and civil strife. They include Hamid Karzai, a leading anti-Taliban commander; Abdul Sattar Sirat, a close aide to exiled former king Mohammad Zaher Shah; Sibgatullah Mujadeddi, who briefly was transitional president in 1992, and Syed Ahmed Gailani, a prominent Afghan spiritual leader and supporter of the former king.
Within hours, the four Afghan factions settled final details of a framework accord creating the interim governing body and an independent council to convene a national assembly of tribal elders, or loya jirga, within six months.
The plan also envisions the deployment of an international security force to Kabul and other parts of the country, steps to integrate Afghan fighters into a future national army, and the creation of a supreme court. Bureau Report
Tense diplomacy preceded the breakthrough, with the US accusing the fractious alliance of attempting to block an accord and a US official calling its leader in Kabul, Burhanuddin Rabbani, to press him not to risk the collapse of talks. On Tuesday, UN mediators start trying to meld the Northern Alliance's names with proposals by the three other delegations - envoys of former King Mohammad Zaher Shah and two smaller exile groups - to come up with the interim administration.
That bargaining could take two more days, a US diplomat said. It's not going to be easy, said UN spokesman Ahmad Fawzi. It's going to take some hard choices.
The Northern Alliance officially brought four names into play Monday as possible head of a 29-member executive body foreseen in a UN plan for Afghanistan's political future, the first step toward restoring order after 23 years of war and civil strife. They include Hamid Karzai, a leading anti-Taliban commander; Abdul Sattar Sirat, a close aide to exiled former king Mohammad Zaher Shah; Sibgatullah Mujadeddi, who briefly was transitional president in 1992, and Syed Ahmed Gailani, a prominent Afghan spiritual leader and supporter of the former king.
Within hours, the four Afghan factions settled final details of a framework accord creating the interim governing body and an independent council to convene a national assembly of tribal elders, or loya jirga, within six months.
The plan also envisions the deployment of an international security force to Kabul and other parts of the country, steps to integrate Afghan fighters into a future national army, and the creation of a supreme court. Bureau Report