BONN, Germany (Islamweb & News Agencies) - Talks on Afghanistan's political future turn Friday to the tricky task of putting names to jobs in an interim government in which the dominant Northern Alliance will share power with returning Afghan exiles.
The Alliance, which has won control of most of Afghanistan including the capital Kabul bolstered by weeks of U.S. bombing raids, has agreed to an outline deal with three exile groups for an interim parliament and executive including all factions.
``In principle we have agreed on the formation of these two institutions. The thing that still needs to be decided on is the constitution of these and the list of people,'' Abdul Sattar Sirat, head of the delegation supporting ex-King Zahir Shah, said.
``We hope that we will have an agreement by Saturday,'' Sirat said Thursday evening. ``The difficult job is how to select the members of the supreme council and the administration.''
The supreme council would be a parliament of up to 200 members, while the administration would be a cabinet of about 20 to govern until a Loya Jirga, or grand assembly of tribal leaders, can be convened in the spring. That should approve a post-Taliban government to prepare a constitution and conduct free elections in two or three years.
``The negotiations have now entered the middle phase that could be relatively lengthy. They are beginning to discuss the issues in detail,'' James Dobbins, the U.S. special envoy on Afghanistan and an observer at the talks, told journalists.
As the talks entered a fourth day, another Western diplomat played down expectations of a deal by the weekend, saying his ticket out of Bonn was booked for Tuesday.