ZAHER SHAH ALMOST ACCEPTED AT BONN TALKS AS INTERIM HEAD
By Safa Haeri
BONN 28 Nov. (IPS) The Northern Alliance, the dominant delegation at the inter-Afghan peace talks in Bonn said Wednesday that it could accept a multinational security force "if it formed part of a comprehensive peace package".
"At the moment there is no need for an international peacekeeping force,
as there is security in place, but it can in principle be part of a
comprehensive peace package", said Mr. Yoones Qanooni, the Alliance’s
Interior Minister and strongman, speaking Wednesday to hundreds of journalists
on board of "ExploStar" river ship anchored on the Rhein
riverbank transformed in a press centre.
The creation of such a force is one of two items that are to be decided at the talks among the four Afghan factions taking part in the first peace talks in the past 28 years.
The other is an interim administration, or government, and an interim supervisory council, or parliament.
"We don't feel the need for an outside force to bring security. We have our own qualified security forces and there is full security in Afghanistan" Mr. Qanooni, a former aid to the slain war veteran Ahmad Shah Mas’ood told journalists.
Out of the three UN-proposed solution for peace keeping, the creation of a multinational force provided in majority by Muslim nations seems to be more practicable, as the two others, an all Afghan force or a bleu helmets are more difficult to form, Mr. Ahmad Fawzi, the spokesman for the UN Special Envoy for Afghanistan Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi had said earlier
Ahmad Wali Mas’ood, the brother of the late Ahmad Shah who is also the Alliance’s ambassador to London confirmed that the group appeared to have softened its stance.
"That issue is under examination. It will be decided if there is a need but at the moment such a need is not seen, but that cannot be a hurdle," Wali Mas’ood added, saying also that he was hopeful about the outcome of the talks.
"We are hoping that we can get everything done, hopefully here", he told journalists at the Maritim Hotel. "If not, at least we should get the main points. As a principle, we should agree on the major things", he said.
Concerning the role of former King Mohammad Zaher Shah, Mr. Qanooni was more flexible, saying the Alliance was ready to accept an interim role for the 87 years-old former Monarch provided his mandate is approved by the Loya Jirga or even a supreme council.
That most of delegates seemed to have agreed on the role of Zaher Shah as an interim head of state was a big set back for neighbouring Iran which favours Mr. Borhaneddine Rabbani, the president of the Islamic government of Afghanistan that was booted out of Kabol by the Taleban in 1996.
Alliance delegates had met earlier on the day with colleagues from the Rome Group that represents Zaher Shah, discussing Mr. Brahimi’s three points plan put to the 28 delegates, nicknamed the "prisoners of Petersberg", from the name of the historic castle perched on top of a hill in Koenigswinter, a tourist suburb of Bonn, reserved by German authorities for the behind the doors talks a plan for an interim administration to pave the way for a post-Taliban government.
"The Northern Alliance and the King's factions have agreed on the formation of a transitional council with 120 to 200 members, mandated in turn to set up an interim government", a source close to the talks told Iran Press Service without providing more details.
"I have come to Bonn with high expectations. Though our people have behind them a golden era of resistance against oppression, but we are in a new era", Mr. Qanooni said, speaking in Persian Dari language.
Later on Wednesday, Mr. Francesc Vendrell, Deputy UN’s Special Envoy and an architect of the Bonn talks had expressed optimism as to the outcomes of the meeting, observing that for peaople who had fought for 28 years, it was not easy to solve all problems in for to five days.
Next to the Northern Alliance and the Rome Group that have send eleven members each to Petersberg, there are the Pakistan-backed, pro-Zaher Shah, Poshtoon-based "Peshawar Group" and the Iran-supported, Sh’ia Muslim, anti-Zaher Shah "Cyprus Group," representing many Afghan exiles, mostly moderate intellectuals and scholars.
"Though the King is highly respected by all Afghans as well as by the international community, but it is up to the Afghan to accept him as a uniting force for an interim period", Mr. Vendrell said during his first press briefing.
Another member of the Northern Alliance told the official Iranian news agency IRNA that the selection of the former Afghan King to rule Afghanistan would "possibly be a good solution to the Afghan issue in the short run".
Mr. Bahadori, a member of the Islamic Unity Movement who took part in the watershed Bonn conference on Afghanistan, told IRNA correspondent that the future Afghan government should be composed of representatives of all groups and camps in Afghanistan with equal rights.
He went on to say that Mr. Rabbani was also one of the options to be discussed by the participants in the Bonn Conference as for whether he would be selected as new head of state or not.
However, he said that the United Nations appear to give the green light to the Rome-based former Monarch to rule provisionally the state’s affairs in Afghanistan.
"As for the rights of women in Afghanistan, he said attempts are being made to guarantee the rights of the women in the post-Taleban Afghanistan", IRNA added.
Asked about the role the four Afghan women who are present at the talks plays in the discussions and if the delegates had addressed the situation of women in Afghanistan, Mr. Vendrell confirmed that the female delegates play full role but though the issue of women is of paramount importance, due to the dramatic changes in Afghan women’s situation in the past month, but the Bonn conference has its own special agenda to debate and decide.
Asked if the United Nations had any contingency plan in case the Bonn talks fails, he said while he is hopeful that the conference will emerge successfully, but the UN would present a "roadmap leading to free and fair elections and a Loya Jirga".
But, pointing to difficulties ahead, Mr. Fawzi had warned that "even a small sandstone could stop a huge machine".
As representatives of four Afghan factions were meeting with Mr. Brahimi, his deputy, Mr. Vendrell, said though there was a warm atmosphere up there in Petersberg, but some ups and downs could not be ruled out.
"This is the beginning of a though, difficult road full of obstacles and we are here to remove them as they appear ahead", he said. ENDS AFQAN BONN TALKS 281101