Berlin meeting first step towards stability

The UN's confirmation that a meeting to bring together various Afghan groups and other interested parties would be held in Germany to pave the way for a broad-based government and peace has been welcomed by Afghans in Pakistan and Europe. "The participants will gather over the weekend, and the meeting will start hopefully on Monday," Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Afghanistan, told reporters in New York on Tuesday.

He said the meeting would be attended by the Northern Alliance, which comprises several groupings united in fighting the Taliban, representatives of the former king, Mohammad Zahir Shah, and other Afghans interested in being involved in the political process.

The UN Secretary-General's Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan, Francesc Vendrell, who has been in Kabul since Saturday, managed to secure the agreement of the various Afghan factions to attend. The discussions were conducted in the context of Brahimi's five-point formula, presented to the UN Security Council on 14 October.

The formula provides for the convening of a conference of Afghan parties, electing a provisional council, and proposing a transitional administration to be in place for no longer than two years, and to be endorsed by a Loya Jirgah (supreme national tribal assembly). According to the plan, a second Loya Jirgah should later be convened, which would approve the constitution and create the government of Afghanistan.

Vendrell met representatives of the Northern Alliance factions, representatives of shuras (consultative assemblies) from the predominantly Pashtun southern part of Afghanistan, as well as representatives of the Hazara ethnic group. He also held discussions with special envoys from the UK, Iran and Russia.

Experts view the forthcoming intra-Afghan meeting as the crucial first step towards arriving at agreement on future Afghan governance and a durable peace, especially now that security is deteriorating inside the country.

Afghans abroad are optimistic. A former deputy prime minister, Samad Hamid, who is now living in Germany, said any move aimed at ending the fighting was a positive one. As a Pashtun, the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan, Hamid said all the country's ethnic groups needed to be represented at the meeting in order to start moving in the right direction. "The leadership of the new government needs to be based on the wellbeing of the people, they have suffered enough," he said.

Karim added that it was important to restore civil rights within this framework. "I think the aim is also to give each of the ethnic groups the freedom and equality they deserve," he said. It was important to create a balance of power within society capable of preventing majorities from exercising discrimination against other ethnic groups.

Kadir Imami, the director of the Afghanistan reconciliation and peace council, comprising representatives of 28 Afghan parties from the main ethnic groups in Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP), said it would be good to see the Northern Alliance, the king and all the other ethnic groups coming together under one roof.

An ethnic Tajik, Imami used to live in the western province of Ghowr until 16 years ago when he made the NWFP his new home. "We hope the UN will also help to facilitate a viable government for the future of Afghanistan," he added. He stressed that all groups needed to be equally represented, otherwise the government could not survive and nor could a durable peace ensue.

Referring to the sharing of power in a future broad-based government, he said: "The majority Pashtuns must accept equal representation of all ethnic groups in Afghanistan." He added that it was also important to include women at this stage. "This is the time to include them, and help to improve their rights."