Landmark talks on Afghanistan's future were dealt a blow Friday when a prominent Pashtun delegate walked out following a split in the Northern Alliance over selecting members for a transitional authority.
A senior Northern Alliance official said Haji Abdul Qadir, the governor of the eastern province of Nangahar and number-two in their delegation, had quit just as delegates were finalizing plans for an interim parliament and cabinet.
"He thought Pashtuns were not well represented in the meeting," Alliance diplomat Amanullah Jaihoon told AFP as the talks entered their fourth day.
Qadir was the most senior Pashtun figure in the delegation representing the powerful Northern Alliance, which is dominated by ethnic minority Tajiks, Uzbeks and Hazaras.
"He has left. We are sorry to see him go, but the show must go on, and it does," said Ahmad Fawzi, spokesman for the UN's special representative to Afghanistan Lakhdar Brahimi.
Officials said the four groups at the talks were finalizing lists of members of a parliamentary-style supreme council and a cabinet-style interim administration, part of a UN blueprint to steer Afghanistan out of decades of war.
The two institutions are designed to pave the way for a Loya Jirga, or traditional "grand assembly" of tribal elders, to be held in March or April next year, that would in turn lay the groundwork for a broad-based government.
Hamid Sidiq, a spokesman for exiled former king Mohammed Zahir Shah, said the monarchists' list of names for a 120 to 200 member supreme council -- a parliamentary-style body -- had been finalized, but he said the Northern Alliance was still busy consulting with its leadership back in Afghanistan.
Delegates said talks had yet to move on to the naming of a smaller, 15 to 20 member interim administration -- which means sharing out key portfolios such as defense and interior.
But Sidiq said the four groups at the talks, taking place in a secluded hill-top German government residence, were still on track to agreeing a historic power-sharing deal.
"Discussions are going on, it is very positive," he asserted.
Among the monarchists' demands is that the former king becomes Afghanistan's new head of state and head the supreme council.
On Thursday, the Northern Alliance's delegation head, Yunus Qanooni, acknowledged the importance of the ex-king as a unifying force, but Jaihoon said the talks had also yet to touch on his possible role.
"The role of the former king has not been discussed yet. There is no agreement yet on the role of the former king," he said.
The ex-king is also seen as important for winning over the majority ethnic Pashtuns in the south.
Another key agenda item -- how security is to be maintained -- also saw an opening when Qanooni stressed the Alliance's willingness to accept a multinational force once an interim government is in place.
The Northern Alliance -- dominated by ethnic minority Tajiks, Uzbeks and Hazaras but itself divided -- marched into Kabul two weeks ago after the Taliban fled the city, ignoring warnings from other Afghan groups and the United States not to do so.
This had raised fears that the grouping would continue to assert its dominance through its powerful network of commanders and battle-hardened fighters.
The royalists have made it clear they want a neutral, international force to protect the functioning of the new interim government, while donors are insisting on the need for security to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian and reconstruction aid.
A multinational force has been presented by the United Nations as the most viable option, but diplomats said one option now under consideration was the deployment of a small, 2,000-strong force for the capital Kabul.
The head of the ex-king's delegation said he expected the conference to continue until Saturday --
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
