Afghanistan's complex patchwork of ethnic, military and political groups gets down to hard talking in Germany on Tuesday, for UN-sponsored talks seen as a historic opportunity to end decades of bloodshed.
Representatives of the former king, the powerful Northern Alliance and two other groups are under intense pressure to agree to transitional government and the make-up of a multinational security force, a UN spokesman said.
"We need to get a transitional authority in the country as soon as possible. We can't spend a lot of time on this," UN spokesman Ahmad Fawzi said on the eve of the talks near Bonn.
"The question of security will be the second item and will be of paramount importance," said the spokesman for UN special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, the Algerian diplomat who convened the talks.
Fawzi stressed the responsibility on the Afghan representatives' shoulders, given the country's tragic past.
"The people of Afghanistan have been disappointed in the past, we certainly hope they will not be disappointed again."
Although stressing the UN was not seeking to impose a deal, he made clear that the international community was using a stick-and-carrot approach towards the Afghans.
"They know what we have to offer, what the UN and the international community has to offer, and the choice is theirs," Fawzi said.
For the landmark talks, the first serious meeting of rival Afghan groups in nearly a decade, delegates are to be secluded in the Petersberg government residence nestled in the mountains about 15 kilometres (nine miles) from Bonn.
During their discussions, diplomats from foreign powers keen to see their favorites win a stake in a future government will be kept out.
"We are trying to create an atmosphere conducive to decision making," Fawzi said.
But the discussions also form a central thrust of the "War against Terrorism", with foreign governments more determined than ever to see a peaceful Afghanistan that is not a haven for Islamic extremists such as Osama bin Laden.
The Northern Alliance goes into the negotiations in a strong position having sprung back from near-oblivion to take control of most of the country including the capital Kabul.
The Alliance is sending an 11-strong team, a delicate and colourful mix of ethnic Tajiks, Hazaras and Uzbeks that dominate its ranks. But three officials from Afghanistan's ethnic Pashtun majority are also included.
The 87-year-old former king, ousted in 1973 but still regarded as a potential rallying point for Pashtuns that dominate the south of the country, once the Taliban's heartland, has sent a nine-member delegation and two more members are expected to take part.
Two other camps will also attend: members of the so-called Cyprus process made up of a mix of exiled intellectuals and representatives of former warlords, and a team loyal to Pir Syed Ahmad Gailani, a respected ethnic Pashtun taken on board by Pakistan after its Taliban proteges collapsed.
No members of the hardline Taliban, once in charge of 90 percent of the country but now battling to defend their last remaining stronghold in Kandahar, in the south of the country, will be attending.
"This is just the first step on a very long road, and it is going to take a little time to have a fully representative group," Fawzi said.
(China Daily November 27, 2001)
