A US envoy expressed hope that a proposed meeting of Afghan factions under UN auspices would take place in a few days and singled out Turkey as a country that can make key contributions to the war-torn country's reconstruction. Washington's special envoy to the Afghan opposition James Dobbins told reporters after meeting senior Turkish diplomats that the US supported efforts by UN special representative for Afghanistan Lakhdar Brahimi to gather a conference of warring afghan factions.
I hope such a meeting will take place in the next few days, he said, according to the Anatolia news agency.
The Afghan conference is part of a five-point UN plan unveiled at an emergency session of the UN Security Council after the Northern Alliance captured Kabul. It envisages bringing together the Northern Alliance and representatives of former Afghan king Mohammed Zaher Shah and those of factions backed by Iran and Pakistan.
Asked whether the Afghan opposition was ready to form a new administration, Dobbins said opposition factions failed to come together despite producing proper ideas on the future of the country. I hope the opposition will gather at once and begin the process of a new administration, he added. Dobbins is on his way to Pakistan for talks on a broad-based government in Kabul after the Northern Alliance's victory following a meeting with exiled former Afghan king in Rome on Tuesday.
He said turkey, the only Muslim member of NATO which has given full support to the US-led anti-terror drive, was an ally which would play a role in bringing peace and stability to Afghanistan.
Bureau Report