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U.N. Steps Up Efforts to Form New Afghan Government
ISLAMABAD, Nov. 19 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The United Nations special envoy to Afghanistan is slated to hold more talks with former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani, amid signs that a multi-party conference to establish a future Afghan government may be held this week.
The international drive to build an interim administration has gained momentum, with the arrival in Kabul of a Russian delegation and discussions in Uzbekistan between U.S. envoy James Dobbins and Northern Alliance Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah, according to a BBC online report.
The prospect of an inter-Afghan forum was given a boost after the Northern Alliance relented in its demand that talks should only take place in the Afghan capital, Kabul.
Speaking after a meeting with Dobbins, Abdullah said a conference could take place in Germany, Switzerland or Austria in the next few days.
An official at the Afghan embassy in Rome, where Rabbani currently resides, said Monday that he also expected the meeting, for which Rabbani is sending a delegation, to take place in a European country.
"I have not heard about Germany, but I have heard Switzerland and Austria have been proposed," Naser Zia said, adding that the exact date and time would be determined by the United Nations.
The entourage of former Afghan king Mohammed Zahir Shah, which had appeared frustrated by the lack of consultations on the country's political future, has welcomed the Northern Alliance's preparedness for talks.
Abdul Sattar Sirat, a top aide of the former monarch, said the United Nations had yet to provide further details of the meeting.
"We have always been ready to take part in such meetings. There is no problem on our part. We are ready to respond positively to this invitation" Sirat told AFP.
"We do not yet know the details of the arrangements like the date, the place of the meeting and the composition of the delegations," he said.
The U.N. special envoy, Fransesc Vendrell, expressed his hope that agreement could now be reached on a future Afghan government.
"One of the reasons why I'm optimistic this time is that, not only are we learning from past experiences, but also the international community this time is fully committed to provide massive rehabilitation and reconstruction to this city," he said in a report by the British
Guardian Monday.
Vendrell said he hoped an interim administration would be set up, followed by elections within three years.
Meanwhile, the United States, which has led the campaign to topple the Taliban, welcomed the Northern Alliance's decision. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said he was "very pleased" and called for talks to be held soon.
The key question, however, is whether the alliance will honor agreements to cooperate with exiled former king Mohammed Zahir Shah, who has the ear of Washington and the U.N., and share power in an interim administration, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Zahir Shah, of the dominant Pashtun ethnic group, is seen as the only credible unifying symbol in Afghanistan. His 40-year rule, which lasted until 1973, is remembered by some as a time of relative stability. And he is the only Afghan leader without blood on his hands.
The U.N. is urging Rabbani's ethnic Tajik-dominated faction to join other groups in a neutral country to discuss a new government that would have the durable support of all Afghan people, including the Pashtuns.
U.S. officials fear that Rabbani is planning to exclude the Pashtuns. The support of the country's largest ethnic group is considered crucial if Afghanistan is to find peace and end the constant unrest which has turned the country into a playground for alleged terrorist groups.
The U.N. proposal envisages a broad range of tribal and ethnic leaders, representatives of the former king and parties backed by regional players Iran and Pakistan, getting together to agree on a new setup to ensure peace in a country that has known nothing but war for 22 years.
Abdullah told Vendrell Saturday that it was "extremely difficult" to set a precise timeframe for the political process to begin, although he added that inter-Afghan talks should begin "in the coming days."
And in another related story, a top Pashtun leader said Monday that some high-ranking Taliban officials, in the besieged southern city of Kandahar, have agreed with supporters of Zahir Shah to join a national reconciliation government, news agencies reported.
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