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U.S. Reacts to Capture of Kabul by Northern Alliance
WASHINGTON, Nov 13 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The United States Tuesday called for troops of the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance to maintain discipline after they entered Kabul, after ignoring pleas from U.S. officials to hold back on taking the capital.
"It would have been preferable in broad terms for them to have waited and for there to be others in the city, but things move very quickly and now that they are there, we're going to work with them and others to make sure this leads to the formation of a broad-based government," said a senior State Department official.
"Reports are that the people of Kabul are celebrating, but we would like to see the Northern Alliance make sure that their troops maintain discipline," the official told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on condition of anonymity.
U.S. officials led by President George W. Bush had been urging the Northern Alliance for several days to hold back from entering Kabul, fearing that the presence of the mainly ethnic Tajik and Uzbek opposition could provoke resistance from the city's mostly ethnic Pashtun population.
However, the State Department official noted that initial reports from the Afghan capital were promising with residents cheering the anti-Taliban forces.
"It's not ideal, but obviously events move very quickly," he said. "We are perfectly capable, willing and able to deal with the situation now."
The official said the newly named U.S. special envoy to the Afghan opposition, James Dobbins, was now in Rome for a meeting with former king of Afghanistan, Zahir Shah.
The 87-year-old ex-monarch is seen by many as key to forming a new government in Afghanistan.
Just hours before opposition forces entered Kabul, Secretary of State Colin Powell said the time was near for an international "coalition of the willing" to be sent to secure the Afghan capital.
"Things are moving much more rapidly now than we had anticipated just a week ago," Powell told
The New York Times in an interview published Tuesday.
"There is a general deterioration of the Taliban military position," he said, adding that it might soon be necessary to send an international "coalition of the willing" led by soldiers from predominantly Muslim nations to secure Kabul.
Turkey, Bangladesh and Indonesia, countries with Muslim majorities, have offered forces to assist with a "bridging political structure" under control by the United Nations.
Earlier today, British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced that the seizing of Kabul illustrates the Taliban have lost their hold on Afghanistan, even though they were reported fleeing to Kandahar in the south. But he also went on to say that it is too early to tell if the maneuvers have been completely successful.
Bush is expected to hold a press conference later Tuesday.
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