U.N. anxious as cracks appear in Alliance

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, NOV. 17. Signs of tension and divisions in the Northern Alliance have started showing. And they do not augur well for the United Nations, which is seeking to bring together all the factions and put in place an acceptable interim set-up in Kabul.

According to EuroasiaNet - an NGO website - the signs of mounting tension within the Alliance are causing concern among the U.N. officials.

The U.N. is trying to convene a meeting this weekend to discuss the establishment of a provisional government in Afghanistan. The U.N. Special Envoy, Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi's deputy, Mr. Francese Vendrell, is planning to leave for Kabul in a day or two for a first-hand assessment of the situation.

``But according to some reports, battlefield success is causing old rivalries among Northern Alliance factions to resurface. The political vacuum created by the sudden collapse of Taliban authority is prompting various Alliance factions to jockey for influence over the country's political and economic future,'' the website said. The Alliance troops are in possession of up to 80 per cent of the Afghan territory, including Kabul and other key cities.

Despite the public pronouncements of the Alliance leaders that they are ready to support the U.N. initiative, the diplomats are apprehensive of possible clashes among the factions in Mazar-i- Sharif. They also say policy differences are emerging among the Alliance's political leaders, including the Foreign Minister, Mr. Abdullah Abdullah, and the President, Burhanuddin Rabbani. ``Mr. Abdullah is not of the same view as Mr. Rabbani,'' a U.N. diplomat reportedly told EurasiaNet.

The U.N. formally recognises Mr. Rabbani as the head of Afghan government. But an official suggested that his status did not entitle him to a special role in peace-building talks.

Mr. Rabbani, who belongs to the Tajik faction, had reportedly sought a renewed endorsement of his authority by the U.N. - something it is reluctant to grant as it tries to form a broad- based provisional government.

According to the site, the United Arab Emirates has agreed to host a meeting that seeks to work out the details of a blueprint forwarded by Mr. Brahimi. The U.N. intends inviting representatives from all major Afghan ethnic and tribal groups, except the Taliban, to the meeting. However, it is not clear when the meeting will take place and who will attend it.

Given the uncertainty surrounding the Northern Alliance's cohesion and the lack of representation of the Pashtun community, the U.N. officials admit that the Brahimi plan faces obstacles.

Quoting sources in Pakistan, the website said that at least 15 middle-level Taliban commanders and 35 Al-Qaeda operatives had been killed in the recent U.S. bombing raids. ``Tayyab Agha (Taliban spokesman) indicated that Taliban units were regrouping in mountainous regions and would attempt to launch guerrilla operations. Some reports say the Taliban forces intend to open an offensive to recapture the western city of Herat.''

Meanwhile, a report in the Urdu daily, Jang, says that with the local commanders taking control of several provinces ``the situation is fast heading towards pre- 1994 and if sincere efforts to resolve the prevailing crisis were not made, it would lead to a major bloodshed in the near future.''

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Section  : International
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