Afghan Groups Huddle in Bonn Before Talks

19/05/2001| IslamWeb

BONN (Islamweb & News Agencies) - Afghan exiles, U.N. experts and diplomats including Germany's foreign minister held preliminary discussions on Afghanistan's future on Monday ahead of a conference to discuss a post-Taliban government.
About 30 delegates from four anti-Taliban Afghan groups were set to begin closed-door United Nations-sponsored talks on the hilltop Petersberg hotel in Bonn on Tuesday. But many arrived in the former German capital early and got right to work.
``All the parties agree that speed is of the essence,'' said Ahmad Fawzi, spokesman for the United Nations special representative for Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi.
He later dined with German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, who then met each of the four Afghan groups.
U.S. special envoy James Dobbins, one of several dozen foreign diplomats observing the talks, met supporters of Afghanistan's former king, Zahir Shah, and the Iranian-backed Cyprus group of exiles to hear their views.
United Nations officials hope the talks, due to last at least a week on the hills above the River Rhine, will yield agreement on the framework for an interim government and a security mechanism for a country in ruins after 23 years of war.
However, Burhanuddin Rabbani, head of the Northern Alliance which controls most of the country and holding Afghanistan's seat at the United Nations, played down hopes the meeting could quickly produce a transitional administration.