Afghanistan's new ministers, charged with rebuilding a nation shattered by 23 years of war, got down to business Monday as their leader appealed again for international help. The 30-member interim cabinet was sworn in Saturday and held its first meeting Sunday, when its leader Hamid Karzai said the priorities were reconstruction, the economy and bringing "peace and stability."

On Monday the members of the power-sharing cabinet were to visit their ministries and meet staff, accompanied by any acting ministers who were installed by the Northern Alliance. Backed by US air power, the alliance on November 13 took over the capital from fleeing forces of the fundamentalist Taliban regime, which had ruled most of the country for five years.

The alliance holds many key posts in the six-month cabinet, which is a delicate balancing act between the country's various ethnic groups. In a sign of the break with the past it includes two women.

Karzai, a Pashtun royalist, said women -- who suffered most under the Taliban's extremist interpretation of Islamic -- would now be brought back into public life. "Women have had a role before in Afghanistan. Afghanistan's history is full of examples of women playing a leading role," he said in an interview with CNN television Sunday.

"Now we have two women in our cabinet. In accordance with Islam and with our tradition, they will have a role and that will be a significant role." Bureau Report