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Rival Afghan leaders bury hatchet at Bonn
The United Nations-sponsored conference on the political future of Afghanistan opened in Bonn Tuesday with rival leaders indicating they are prepared to lay aside their differences to help build a post-Taliban government in Kabul.
The United Nations-sponsored conference on the political future of Afghanistan opened in Bonn Tuesday with rival leaders indicating they are prepared to lay aside their differences to help build a post-Taliban government in Kabul.
Addressing the opening session, Yunus Qanooni from the Northern Alliance said that his faction was committed to national unity and the creation of a broad-based government for Afghanistan, which has suffered from more than two decades of civil war.
His view was echoed by representatives of the other three factions that are attending the conference in the government guest house, Petersberg, near the former German capital. ''We accept the principle of a broad-based government and after a period of transition we support democracy for the nation,'' said Sayed Hamed Gailini representing the Pashtuns, which are Afghanistan's largest ethnic tribe.
Gailini told the conference that his faction would show ''great flexibility to reach agreement,'' saying his group welcomed the international community's role in attempting to find a solution to Afghanistan's problems. But in remarks to the conference, both the UN secretary general Kofi Annan and the German foreign minister Joschka Fischer warned of the enormous responsibility facing the 50 Afghan leaders and their advisers attending the talks in reaching a compromise on their nation's political future.
At the same time both Fischer and Annan stressed the importance of human rights in overcoming Afghanistan's problems and including in the new political process, groups, notably who had been excluded.
Bureau Report
His view was echoed by representatives of the other three factions that are attending the conference in the government guest house, Petersberg, near the former German capital. ''We accept the principle of a broad-based government and after a period of transition we support democracy for the nation,'' said Sayed Hamed Gailini representing the Pashtuns, which are Afghanistan's largest ethnic tribe.
Gailini told the conference that his faction would show ''great flexibility to reach agreement,'' saying his group welcomed the international community's role in attempting to find a solution to Afghanistan's problems. But in remarks to the conference, both the UN secretary general Kofi Annan and the German foreign minister Joschka Fischer warned of the enormous responsibility facing the 50 Afghan leaders and their advisers attending the talks in reaching a compromise on their nation's political future.
At the same time both Fischer and Annan stressed the importance of human rights in overcoming Afghanistan's problems and including in the new political process, groups, notably who had been excluded.
Bureau Report