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Officials hopeful that multiethnic government will arise from U.N.-led meetings in Germany
11/22/2001
LONDON – The German government Wednesday announced that U.N.-sponsored
talks aimed at installing a multiethnic government in Afghanistan would
begin on Monday in Bonn.
The goal of the preliminary meeting is to devise a formula that would
allow a legitimate government representing many of the various Afghan
tribal groups to take power in Kabul, where a small force of Northern
Alliance fighters has been in control since the abrupt withdrawal of the
Taliban militia on Nov. 13.
In London, U.S. envoy James Dobbins said he had high hopes that a
coalition government could be formed, despite deep divisions among many
of the groups that have fought each other for power for more than a
decade.
"I return a good deal more optimistic than when I left that we have an
opportunity to promote the early development of a broad-based government
in Afghanistan which the international community can assist," said Mr.
Dobbins, who recently met with Northern Alliance leaders at an airfield
outside Kabul and elsewhere with other groups opposed to the Taliban.
Tribal tensions
But Mr. Dobbins, appointed by the Bush administration to establish diplomatic communications with the Northern Alliance, said he found more convergence of ideas among the groups than he had expected.
In addition to meetings inside Afghanistan, he held discussions with political leaders in Pakistan who are hostile to the Northern Alliance.
The situation has been complicated by the fact that a contingent of Northern Alliance fighters representing just one faction of the group rolled into Kabul last week despite promises to hold back.
They have established a de facto presence in the devastated capital, angering many Pashtuns who have fought them in the past.
Nonetheless, the Northern Alliance has indicated its desire to form a broad-based coalition and does not intend to use its early arrival in Kabul as a pretext for seizing national power, Mr. Dobbins said.
Foreign troops accepted
The U.S. envoy also said Northern Alliance leaders agreed to accept the presence of foreign troops in the fight against terrorism. Northern Alliance officials had been upset by the early arrival of 100 British troops at an airbase outside Kabul.
Lakhdar Brahimi, the senior U.N. envoy for Afghanistan, said Wednesday that he expected a handful of Afghan groups to participate in the meeting Monday.
Participants are expected to include the Northern Alliance, which initially wanted the meeting held in Kabul, several of the Pashtun tribes, and representatives of the 86-year-old exiled king, Mohammad Zahir Shah. He lives in Rome but is hoping to play a role in the reconstruction of postwar Afghanistan.
German diplomats indicated that the German government would not play a role in the meeting, which will only include U.N. officials and Afghan leaders. Officials said the meeting would be held at a secluded villa on the outskirts of Bonn.