Northern Alliance Rejects U.N. Proposal
The New York Times
November 28, 2001
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 4:23 p.m. ET
KOENIGSWINTER, Germany (AP) -- The
northern alliance rejected the United Nations'
proposal for an international security force for
Afghanistan, insisting Wednesday that a security
force -- theirs -- is already in place.
They also dampened expectations that the former
king would head an interim administration.
Deciding on the makeup of a security force, as well
as an interim administration, are the two difficult
goals of a U.N.-sponsored meeting of four Afghan
factions at a mountaintop manor outside Bonn.
``We don't feel a need for an outside force. There is
security in place,'' the northern alliance's chief
negotiator, Younus Qanooni, said at the second day
of the talks.
If a security force is needed to enforce an agreement on an interim government,
Qanooni said it should be comprised of Afghanistan's ethnic groups.
The other groups at the conference -- supporters of ex-King Mohammad Zaher
Shah, and two other exile groups based in Cyprus and Pakistan -- are pushing for a
neutral, U.N.-backed force.
``Peace is not possible without neutral forces, and there are no neutral forces in
Afghanistan. There are only northern alliance forces, and they are not neutral,'' said
Anwar-ul-Haq Ahadi, a delegate of the Peshawar group that is based in Pakistan.
Zalmai Rassoul, whose group represents the former monarch, said that one option
was to include Afghans in a wider security force. He said he hoped for
``compromise.''
The fall of Kabul to northern alliance forces has prompted international calls for the
United Nations to oversee a political settlement to the long-running civil war in
Afghanistan. A multinational force drawn mainly from moderate Muslim nations has
been in planning, drawing troops from Turkey, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Jordan.
Eight foreign journalists have been killed in Afghanistan over the past several weeks
since northern alliance forces began pushing the Taliban out of most of the country.
U.N. officials and aid agencies have also expressed concern over unconfirmed
reports that northern alliance forces have massacred hundreds of civilians and
captured soldiers in their push against the Taliban.
Qanooni also dampened expectations that the former king would head an interim
administration, saying he would have a role only if elected by a national council.
``We don't believe in the role of a person and personalities. We believe in a system,
for example, the loya jirga,'' Qanooni said. ``If the people agree through a loya jirga
that the king has a role, of course,'' he said.
Delegates from other factions at the conference indicated earlier Wednesday that
consensus was growing around the ex-king as head of a transitional administration,
which would run Afghanistan until a national council, or loya jirga, can convene,
possibly as early as March.
After heralding a unifying tone at the opening sessions, the United Nations toned
down expectations on the talks' second day.
With discussions under way at informal meetings among the delegations and with
representatives of observer nations in the corridors of the Petersberg hotel on the
two contentious issues, the four delegations have twice postponed a working
meeting with U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi. That meeting is to take place on
Thursday, U.N. spokesman Ahmad Fawzi said.
``We have to decide whether we should not help them move along and overcome
obstacles,'' deputy U.N. envoy Francesc Vendrell said, adding that the United
Nations will probably ``encourage them, prod them.''
U.S. envoy James F. Dobbins said it was natural for differences to begin emerging
at this stage in the talks.
``They've now gotten past the get-acquainted stage and are grappling with the real
issues,'' Dobbins said.
While Brahimi has said an all-Afghan option is most desirable, his spokesman said
this week that a multilateral security force might be the most viable, given the speed
with which one would be needed to secure the peace for a new administration to
take hold.
``The fact that Qanooni came out to say we don't need an international force is fine,''
Fawzi said Wednesday. ``It's their decision. We feel they have to maintain law and
order somehow in order to give this interim administration the space to govern until a
loya jirga is convened in a few months time.''
Dobbins said the United States had not taken a position on whether an eventual
security force should be multinational.
Western nations hope to use the promise of billions of dollars in reconstruction aid
as leverage to prod the Afghans toward a historic agreement on a broad-based
government, a constitution with full civil rights for women and eventual elections.
Following the transitional administration, tribal leaders convening an initial loya jirga
would approve a transitional government to be in place for up to two years, leading
to a second loya jirga, which would approve a constitution and set the stage for
elections.
Key to any accord is the northern alliance, a coalition of warlords that has gained
control of much of Afghanistan since U.S. forces began bombing suspected terrorist
targets in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington.
nytimes.com |
