UN calls for talks to form Afghan government
Facing a power vacuum in Afghanistan with the Taliban on the run, the United Nations urged Afghan groups to meet ‘‘as early as humanly possible’’ about forming a transitional government backed by an international force.
As northern alliance soldiers replaced fleeing Taliban forces in the Afghan capital of Kabul, the UN Security Council met yesterday to hear recommendations from Lakhdar Brahimi, the chief UN envoy for Afghanistan, for a post-Taliban government administered by Afghans.
‘‘Time is now of the essence,’’ Brahimi said. ‘‘It is indispensable and urgent that various Afghanistan groups be brought into the single process. The challenge of Afghanistan is going to be the creation of good government.’’
Brahimi, who recently returned from visiting Afghan exile groups in Pakistan and Iran, said the northern alliance and representatives of various Afghan groups should meet ‘‘as early as humanly possible’’ to work toward forming a broad-based transitional administration.
The veteran Algerian diplomat did not say where such a meeting might be held, but the United States is pushing for the United Arab Emirates.
The international community wants the United Nations to play a key role in overseeing a political settlement and rebuilding the war-shattered country, and Brahimi has been charged with the tough job of trying to get the disparate Afghan groups together .
A draft Security Council resolution circulated by Britain last night affirms that ‘‘the United Nations should play a central role in supporting the efforts of the Afghan people to establish urgently’’ a broad-based, multi-ethnic transitional government representing all the Afghan people.
The proposed resolution, expected to be adopted later this week, ‘‘encourages member states to support efforts to ensure the safety and security of areas of Afghanistan no longer under Taliban control, and in particular to ensure respect for Kabul as the capital for all the Afghan people.’’
The council was to meet today to discuss the resolution and Brahimi’s step-by-step plan for a transitional government to replace the Taliban, which is harboring Osama bin Laden, prime suspect in the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.
Brahimi said the initial goal would be to convene a provisional council that reflects the country’s ethnic diversity. He suggested it be chaired ‘‘by an individual recognised as a symbol of national unity,’’ an apparent reference to Afghanistan’s 87-year-old exiled king, Mohammed Zaher Shah.
Under the plan, the provisional council would put together the two-year transitional government.
The Taliban’s rapid retreat from Kabul was welcomed by speakers at the council, but many worried that the military progress was outpacing the steps to secure political order in the war-ravaged country.
‘‘An international presence must be re-established as soon as possible,’’ John Negroponte, the US ambassador to the United Nations, said.
Iranian Foreign Ministr Kamal Kharrazi said the liberation of Kabul ‘‘should be followed by urgent action by the United Nations’’ to establish an interim administration in consultation with the Afghan groups.
‘‘We need a UN presence there as soon as possible,’’ Prime Minister Tony Blair said in London.
Brahimi ruled out a UN peacekeeping force for Afghanistan, which he said would take several months to put together. He said his first preference would be an all-Afghan security force, but said a multinational security force could probably be assembled more quickly.
Pakistan’s president, General Pervez Musharraf, called for a UN peacekeeping mission made up of Muslim nations to deploy in Kabul and said Turkey and Pakistan could contribute.
‘‘Kabul should remain as a demilitarised city,’’ he said in Istanbul.
Diplomats cautioned the northern alliance against repeating the violence of the early 1990s when the group ruled Afghanistan until driven out by the Taliban militia in 1996.
‘‘Afghanistan does not need another cycle of retribution and revenge,’’ Negroponte told the council. The United States had counseled the northern alliance against moving into Kabul.
The northern alliance foreign minister Abdullah, who uses one name, said in Kabul that the group’s forces had no choice but to enter the Afghan capital after the Taliban forces withdrew, and he invited the United Nations to send teams ‘‘to help us in the peace process.’’
The northern alliance’s stunning military successes brought to the forefront the issue of ensuring that the group shares power, especially with Pashtuns, the country’s largest ethnic group who live primarily in the south. The northern alliance is mostly made up of ethnic minorities, particularly Tajiks and Uzbeks.
Pakistan’s ambassador to the United Nations, Shamshad Ahmad, told the council the Taliban pullout created a dangerous political vacuum and raised fears of ‘‘reprisals and even ethnic cleansing.’’
