BONN, Germany (Reuters) - Afghan rivals made a final push toward forming a post-Taliban government on Saturday as the dominant Northern Alliance appeared to put aside internal differences and agree to form a small interim administration.
With billions of dollars in foreign aid at stake and the United Nations sponsors of the talks pushing for a conclusion on Saturday after five days of haggling, the pressure was on for an agreement on candidates for a power-sharing government.
U.N. spokesman Ahmad Fawzi told Reuters the world body was still hoping for a deal by the end of the day and said exhausted U.N. special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi was making great efforts to find a formula acceptable to all four groups in Bonn.
The Northern Alliance, which now controls almost all of Afghanistan, has agreed in principle to share power with three exile factions, including royalists who want former king Zahir Shah to return as a unifying head of state.
The Alliance, a coalition of Tajiks, Hazaras, Uzbeks and other ethnic minorities, is the most powerful group at the talks. The exile groups are a Rome faction supporting Zahir Shah, the Pakistan-based Peshawar group and the Iran-backed Cyprus group.
The talks in Bonn had originally been discussing setting up both an interim parliament or council of about 150 members and a small cabinet-like government, but differences emerged on Friday on names between Alliance delegates and their leader in Kabul.