Military Campaign Outpaces Political Maneuvers, As UN Approves Policy Plan

14/05/2001| IslamWeb

UNITED NATIONS (Islamweb & News Agencies) - The U.N. Security Council approved on Wednesday a blueprint for the international community to follow to fill the void in Afghanistan after the unexpected flight of the Taliban.In a resolution adopted by a 15-0 vote, the council supported plans by Lakhdar Brahimi, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's special envoy for Afghanistan, who is trying to convene an urgent meeting of Afghan factions to form a provisional government.
Brahimi has also proposed an international security force to guard major cities, especially Kabul, the capital.
The resolution said any new Afghan government should be broad-based and multi-ethnic, respect human rights of all people regardless of gender or religion, and combat terrorism and illicit drug trafficking.
Somewhat ambiguous was a provision that ``encourages'' countries to ``ensure the safety and security of areas of Afghanistan no longer under Taliban control.''
U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte said this referred to the United States and Britain, which have forces in Afghanistan, as well as nations prepared ``to help ensure security in that country, especially the capital of Kabul.''
But British, French and Russian ambassadors said the resolution did not authorize a follow-on peacekeeping force and a new measure would be needed for that purpose.
For the moment, the resolution appears to leave the United States maximum flexibility to prosecute a war launched on Oct. 7 in an effort to root out militants blamed for the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
An international security force, not organized by the United Nations but approved by it, would begin with British or American troops already in the area, diplomats said.
French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine said in New York his country would contribute to such a force, which would also help guard humanitarian workers. Other nations being considered included Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Turkey, Bangladesh and Jordan, U.N. officials said.
The first step, however, is to organize an all-Afghan meeting among the country's many factions. Diplomats said the coalition of rebel groups, the Northern Alliance, had put some preconditions on their attendance, which Brahimi rejected.
The meeting had been planned for within a week in a country in the Middle East, preferably in the Gulf, such as the United Arab Emirates. But no site or date had been decided and the session could be moved to Bahrain or to Geneva or Vienna, diplomats said.
On the political front, Brahimi deputy Francesc Vendrell expects to go to the Afghan capital of Kabul on Friday, along with Michael Sackett, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator in the region, Security Council members reported.
The United States and other governments have pushed the United Nations to the forefront of organizing a post-Taliban government in Afghanistan so that it would have greater global legitimacy than one imposed by Washington alone.
But with Kabul, Mazar-i-Sharif and other northern cities having fallen swiftly to the U.S.-backed Northern Alliance, the military campaign appears to have outpaced political maneuvers, despite worldwide calls for a U.N. presence in Afghanistan.
Brahimi, who was given the task of organizing a government only within the last month, must cope with competing goals of the Pashtuns, who dominate the south of the country and make up most Taliban supporters, and the Northern Alliance, composed largely of ethnic Tajiks, Uzbeks and Hazaara and which is known for as many human rights abuses as the Taliban.
But Brahimi made clear that the United Nations would not ''parachute in'' officials to set up a protectorate as in East Timor or Kosovo but invite Afghans, whether at home, in exile, or in refugee camps in Pakistan and Iran, to take the lead.
Specifically, Brahimi said the first meeting of all factions should discuss steps to convene a provisional council, reflecting various Afghan groups. It should be chaired by ``an individual recognized as a symbol of national unity,'' an apparent reference to Afghanistan's 87-year-old exiled king, Mohammad Zahir Shah, who lives in Rome.
The provisional council would plan a transitional administration that would run the country for up to two years.
At the same time, an emergency Loya Jirga, or grand assembly of tribal elders, would convene to approve security arrangements and help write a constitution. A second Loya Jirga would approve the constitution to create a government for Afghanistan, Brahimi said.
``The processes being proposed are not perfect,'' Brahimi said. The proposed institution ``will not include everyone who should be there and it may include some whose credentials many in Afghanistan may have doubt about,'' he said.