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Afghan leaders outline post-Taliban government
10/26/2001
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Afghan political and tribal leaders agreed Thursday on
the outline of an interim multi-ethnic government in their country, boosting
U.S. efforts to avert a power vacuum if Afghanistan's Taliban leadership
collapses.
The idea, officials and political analysts said, is to ensure that
Afghanistan doesn't dissolve into political chaos and anarchy if a U.S.
bombardment campaign, now in its third week, shakes the Taliban from power. The
meeting also sought to make it easier for so-called moderate Taliban leaders to
switch sides, political analysts added. At the same time, senior Saudi and Turkish officials traveled to the
Pakistani capital to discuss ways that the Muslim world could work to support
any new government and arrange interim security forces for a post-Taliban
Afghanistan. The Peshawar meeting followed five days of intensive U.S. airstrikes on
front-line positions of the Taliban north of the Afghan capital, Kabul, and the
strategic northwestern city of Mazar-e Sharif. Reporters traveling with the
opposition Northern Alliance said U.S. troops are helping advise the militia and
coordinate strategies with U.S. jet fighters staging round-the-clock attacks
overhead. In some cases, however, combatants of the two sides are so close together,
the United States reportedly is having problems hitting Taliban positions
without causing collateral damage on the Northern Alliance side of the front.
In spite of the attacks, there was no indication that Taliban forces were
yielding ground. In fact, two U.S. jets appeared to narrowly miss being hit by a
surface-to-air missile fired from within Taliban-controlled territory near the
northern front lines. "They must be pretty happy with the way the war has gone up to now," said
Rifaat Hussein, a Pakistani military analyst. In spite of the massive U.S.
bombing campaign, which began Oct. 7, Taliban forces "have not conceded one inch
of their territory so far. ... In fact, they actually might have taken some
territory away from the Northern Alliance." Northern Alliance commanders renewed their appeals for the United States to
intensify airstrikes on Taliban frontline positions and to deploy U.S. ground
troops who would fight in coordination with the opposition militia. "If America wants to finish off terrorism and the Taliban in Afghanistan,
they must bring in ground troops," one commander, identified as Eztullah, told
reporters in the town of Korak Dana. "This should be quick." Talat Massood, a retired Pakistani army general, said the Northern Alliance
would be naïve to think that America's military campaign in Afghanistan can be
finished anytime soon. "What has happened is that the Taliban has not broken up. Did they think that
just by bombing them every day ... that they would just give in?" he said. Unity meeting ends
In Peshawar, more than 1,000 members of various Afghan tribes and exiled
political leaders ended their two-day Conference for Peace and National Unity
after agreeing to form a broad-based, caretaker government. They called on Afghanistan's former king, Mohammad Zahir Shah, to participate
in the new government, but he neither attended the Peshawar conference nor sent
a representative. The group demanded that "those foreigners who add more to our miseries" leave
the country – an apparent reference to Saudi-born militia leader Osama bin
Laden, whose mostly Arab fighting force, al-Qaeda, is accused of planning the
Sept. 11 attacks on the United States. "They should not exploit any longer the hospitality of Afghans," the Peshawar
conferees said in a closing statement. Taliban leaders have repeatedly refused
to eject Mr. bin Laden from the country or hand him over to the United States
unless it provides proof of his involvement in the Sept. 11 attacks. The conference also called on the United States, the Taliban, and the
Northern Alliance to cease hostilities "as early as possible" and declare Kabul
a demilitarized zone. The group appeared to reject any notion that the Northern Alliance could
govern the country if it succeeds in ousting the Taliban from power. "If that vacuum were filled by a particular group through military
operation," the conference statement said, "it would turn to a new phase of
bloodshed and disorder and would afflict our nation with new misfortune." Mr. Hussein, the military analyst, said the conference posed a clear
political setback for the Northern Alliance, which opposes many of the top
leaders who attended the meeting. "This will immensely complicate the Northern
Alliance's game plan," he said. Talks in Pakistan
As the Peshawar conference was concluding, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's
military leader, met in Islamabad with Saud al-Faisal, the Saudi Arabian foreign
minister, who made an unannounced visit to Pakistan. Later in the day, Gen.
Musharraf received Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer. Turkey and Pakistan have been mentioned as potential organizers of an
all-Muslim peacekeeping force that would deploy in Afghanistan if a cease-fire
can be arranged among the warring parties. Mr. Hussein said Turkey and Saudi Arabia already have taken a leading role in
working out the framework of a peacekeeping force among member-states of the
Organization of the Islamic Conference, which met in Qatar shortly after the
U.S. airstrikes began. Ali Awadh Asseri, the Saudi ambassador to Pakistan, said he doesn't think
that there will be an attempt to negotiate a solution with the Taliban because,
he believes, the Afghan government is almost at the point of collapse. "Their power has come to an end, or it is on the verge of coming to an end,"
he told CNN. French, British support
In France, President Jacques Chirac told reporters that his country has
reinforced its air and sea operations around Afghanistan and said his nation is
ready to participate in special operations as part of the U.S.-led coalition in
the war on terrorism. "This deployment will allow us to contribute in a very efficient manner to
the operations carried out in Afghanistan to eradicate terrorist networks and
their support," Mr. Chirac said. Meanwhile, in London, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said it is more
likely that Mr. bin Laden would be killed rather than captured as a result of
the U.S.-led campaign. But the U.S. secretary of defense, Donald Rumsfeld, acknowledged that the
hunt for Mr. bin Laden will be complicated, saying it would be "very difficult"
either to capture or kill him. "It's a big world," he said in an interview with USA Today . "There
are lots of countries. He's got a lot of money, he's got a lot of people who
support him, and I just don't know whether we'll be successful."