11/29/2001
The Globe and Mail
Metro
Page A4
"All material Copyright (c) Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved."
Delegates meeting to plot a future government for Afghanistan reached a tentative agreement last night on an interim council for the war-ravaged nation.
The factions remain split, however, on the role of Afghanistan's former king and on whether foreign troops should provide security in a land that has disintegrated into anarchy in many areas.
The tentative accord, negotiated between representatives of the Northern Alliance and loyalists of exiled former king Mohammed Zahir Shah, who is 87, would convene a loya jirga -- an assembly of tribal leaders -- that would act as a legislature and that would, in turn, appoint an executive to administer the country for several months, working with agencies and coalition governments to deliver aid and embark on the massive program of reconstruction
"They have agreed to set up a temporary council, but the mechanism for its creation will be discussed tomorrow," a top aide to the head of the Northern Alliance delegation, Yunus Qanuni, said yesterday. "What will be discussed is how many people should be in it and who should be in the council."
But Mr. Qanuni dampened expectations that the former king would head an interim administration, saying he would have a role only if elected by a national council. "We don't believe in the role of a person and personalities. We believe in a system, for example, the loya jirga," he said. "If the people agree through a loya jirga that the king has a role, of course," he said.
Delegates from other factions at the conference indicated earlier yesterday that consensus was growing around Zahir Shah as head of a transitional administration.
Representatives of four groups backed by various interests in Afghanistan, but excluding Pashtun supporters of the Taliban regime, have been meeting in a hotel near Bonn, Germany since Tuesday.
The United Nations-sponsored talks brought together representatives from the Northern Alliance -- a coalition dominated by Uzbeks and Tajiks who now control much of the country -- and monarchists seeking to bring Zahir Shah back to Afghanistan as a figurehead leader of a transitional government.
Two other groups represent exiled Afghans based in Cyprus and Pakistan.
The United Nations, along with the United States and other governments in the coalition at war against the Taliban regime, want the groups to agree on a mechanism for establishing an interim government that would represent all interests in Pakistan, until elections can be held in two or three years.
The interim administration would be replaced by a more broadly based government.
"All the people I've talked to believe in a loya jirga as the vehicle for bringing a legitimate government," said Sayed Hamid Karzai, a Pushtun leader, in a telephone call relayed to the conference from Afghanistan.
Despite progress in creating a mechanism for governing Afghanistan, the delegates remain split on how to make it safe.
United Nations representatives have suggested three scenarios: an international security force, composed largely of troops from other Muslim countries; a United Nations peacekeeping force, or an all-Afghan force
None are acceptable to the Alliance, which controls the capital of Kabul and the country's northern half.
"We don't feel a need for an outside force," Mr. Qanuni, the Alliance chief negotiator, said. "There is security in place."
Other groups are more supportive of international security aid.
"Peace is not possible without neutral forces, and there are no neutral forces in Afghanistan," said Anwar-ul-Haq Ahadi, a representative of the Pakistani-based delegation. "There are only Northern Alliance forces, and they are not neutral."
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan appealed to the various factions to settle their differences, without which, he said, it will be difficult to bring aid to millions in desperate need of food and shelter. Talking toward a new government Key representatives from the United Nations and Afghan factions who are meeting in Bonn, Germany
United Nations LEADER: Lakhdar Brahimi, representative of the secretary general for Afghanistan, is leading the United Nations delegation along with several othrs.
GOALS: The UN is hosting the conference to provide a framework for the creation of a representative, broad-based transitional government. It is pushing for UN-sponsored multinational peacekeepers in the Afghan region although some groups oppose this. The delegates had said they would sign an agreement on an interim government within five days. The UN needs to concentrate on "the need for moderation" in trying to bring stability to Afghanistan, said Professor David Carment of Carleton University.
COMMENT: "In this meeting of four delegations, there is no question of it deciding here the composition of the new government of Afghanistan," UN Special Representative Francesc Vendrell said yesterday as groups moved closer to hammer out details of a new, post-Taliban government. Peshawar delegation LEADER: Sayed Hamed Gailani, son of the leader of the Pakistan-based Peshawar process, Pir Sayed Ahmad Gailani.
GOALS: Another smaller player which will be jockeying for Pakistan's interests at the table brings three delegates - a mixture of exiled Pashtun tribal leaders. Pakistan has traditionally been supportive of the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Northern Alliance
LEADER: Yunus Qanuni, Alliance Interior Minister, an ethnic Tajik. Accompanied by ten delegates, Mr. Qanuni is representing the alliance's still-recognized president Burhanuddin Rabbani who has said talks are merely symbolic. The now-dominant Northern Alliance's presence at the talks is complicated because it is made up by the country's minority communities - the Tajik, Uzbek and Hazra. However, it has included three delegates from the majority Pashtun group.
GOALS: The Northern Alliance would like to dominate the coalition, said Professor Dhirendra Vajpeyi of the political science department at the University of Northern Iowa. However, yesterday the alliance agreed in principal to share power with rival factions, including supporters of the former king.
COMMENT: "They have agreed to set up a temporary council, but the mechanism for its creation will be discussed tomorrow (Thursday)," said an aide to Mr. Qanuni yesterday. Mr. Qanuni had been lobbying for the setup of a council.
Cyprus delegation
LEADER: Houmayoun Jareer, son-in-law of Iran-based Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.
GOALS: This three-member group is backed by Iran and represents exiles based in Cyprus. It will be looking for an Iranian toehold in Afghan politics, said Prof. Carment.
Rome delegation
LEADER: Abdul Sattar Sirat, an ethnic Uzbek, is representing the exiled king, 87-year-old Mohammed Zahir Shah. The former king's grandson, Mostafa Zahir is also attending.
GOALS: The Rome delegation, representing the ex-king, aims to convince other representatives to give the former king a role in the interim government. Mr. Qanuni ruled out a role in the interim administration yesterday but left the door open for a later role. The former king has the support of many European and western countries and has the backing of the Northern Alliance.
QUOTE: "The inside track is going to the ousted King by virtue of the ethnic majority," said Prof. Carment of Carleton University's Norman Paterson School of International Affairs. The former king is Pashtun. Approximately 45 per cent of Afghanistan's ethnic factions are Pashtun.
International voices
India, Iran and Russia will likely want more of the Northern Alliance presence in the new government, said Prof. Vajpeyi. Pakistan will likely lobby for a few people who may have been former Taliban supporters or who may be current Taliban supporters. "Pakistan stands to lose quite a bit," he said. Turkey may provide humanitarian troops, Prof. Vajpeyi said.
Countries present at observers include: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Britain, China, France, India, Italy, Iran, Japan, Norway, Pakistan, the Netherlands, Russia, the United States and Turkey.
Copyright © 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Back to the UNI Online Home