Prominent Pashtuns support power-sharing talks in Germany

By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA
Associated Press Writer

QUETTA, Pakistan – Representatives of two prominent Pashtun tribes that oppose the Taliban on Wednesday welcomed plans for Afghan power-sharing talks with the northern alliance next week in Germany.

But a leader of one tribe, Haji Abdul Khaliq, said he could not attend because he was trying to persuade the Taliban to surrender their last strongholds in southern Afghanistan.

"We are so busy here. We have a lot of work," Khaliq said in Quetta, a Pakistani city where many ethnic Pashtuns who oppose the Taliban are based.

However, Khaliq said he was content to let his interests be represented by delegates of the former Afghan king Mohammed Zaher Shah, a Pashtun who has lived in exile in Rome for decades.

"I hope it will be a positive thing," said Khaliq, who belongs to the Noorzai tribe. "It's good that the Afghan people come together and talk about their situation and their future government."

The northern alliance, a coalition of anti-Taliban forces made up mostly of ethnic minorities, on Tuesday accepted a U.N. invitation to talks on setting up a broad-based government to replace the Taliban. Talks are tentatively scheduled for Monday.

The northern alliance controls the Afghan capital, Kabul, and there are concerns that the majority ethnic Pashtuns, who have many leaders, will not have full representation at the power-sharing talks.

Another prominent Pashtun leader, Hamid Karzai, is unlikely to attend the talks himself, but also plans to send a representative, his bother said.

Karzai has been in Afghanistan for weeks, trying to lure Pashtuns away from the Taliban, who still control the city of Kandahar and other areas in the south.

"If he doesn't make it, somebody else can go," said his younger brother and spokesman, Ahmed Karzai. Another family member could take his place, he said.

The Taliban draws much of its support from the Pashtuns, and the northern alliance has said there can be no role for the Taliban in a new Afghan government. Pashtun leaders have said they would be willing to accept Taliban commanders – with the exception of supreme leader Mullah Mohammed Omar – in a new government as long as they have tribal support.

The Islamic militia lost most of Afghanistan after weeks of U.S. bombing and offensives by northern alliance troops. President Bush launched the bombings on Oct. 7 after the Taliban refused to hand over Osama bin Laden, chief suspect in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Hamid Karzai has been using Afghanistan's Uruzgan province as a base to try to persuade Taliban commanders in neighboring Kandahar province to lay down their arms.

He has been coordinating with Khaliq, a former commander who fought the Soviet army in the 1908s. I the interview, Khaliq said he was waiting for a response from Taliban commanders to an offer to negotiate.

"I think all the big (Taliban) commanders are thinking about this kind of change, but they have not decided yet," he said.

He ruled out negotiations with Mullah Omar, saying: "We are against terrorists."

On Wednesday, a Taliban spokesman said Taliban forces would defend the territory they still hold.

AP-WS-11-21-01 1206EST