- New Delhi (IANS) - Northern
Alliance forces are preparing for the "second phase" of the war
against terrorism in Afghanistan following their triumphant entry into
capital Kabul, the Afghan envoy to India said Wednesday.
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- Masood Khalili, the ambassador of the government headed
by President Burhanuddin Rabbani, said the Northern Alliance would now
begin work on forming a "fully representative, democratically based
government" that would meet the aspirations of all ethnic
groups.
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- "The war is not over. We are now in the second and
important phase of the war against terrorism. We expect it will be equally
difficult (as the first phase)," Khalili, who survived the bomb attack
that killed famed Northern Alliance commander Ahmed Shah Masood September
9, told IANS.
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- "Afghanistan is the goal, not Kabul," he
said.
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- The envoy ruled out a role for the Taliban in any future
government. "The moderate Taliban doesn't exist. The Taliban will
be excluded in any way from any government."
-
- Northern Alliance fighters were preparing for the
possibility
of increased guerrilla attacks by Taliban forces "reinforced by
Pakistani
and Arab extremists," he said.
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- "We have captured Pakistani extremists in the
hundreds
in Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif," he said, adding many more Pakistani
mujahideen were believed to be operating with the Taliban in southern
Afghanistan.
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- He did not envisage any immediate southward thrust by
the Northern Alliance, Khalili said, adding the opposition fighters would
instead extend support to "those who are against the
Taliban."
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- "There are many commanders in southern Afghanistan
who are opposed to the Taliban and we are in touch with them," he
said.
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- India, Khalili said, was expected to play a
"positive
role" as one of the largest democracies in the region both in
government
formation in Kabul and the reconstruction of his war-ravaged
country.
-
- "By recognising the Rabbani government for the past
six years, India has shown that it wants stability, self-determination
and sovereignty in Afghanistan."
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- India has formed an informal alliance with Tajikistan
and Russia to support the Northern Alliance. It also operates a hospital
to treat the opposition fighters in Tajikistan.
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- Khalili said the Northern Alliance leadership was looking
forward to the visit to Afghanistan by Lakhdar Brahimi, the U.N. secretary
general's special envoy, to give impetus to government formation and
reconstruction
efforts.
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- Brahimi, a former Algerian foreign minister, Wednesday
unveiled a proposal for the creation of a two-year transitional government
and a security force drawn from several nations. He said he would also
call a meeting of all Afghan factions in the near future.
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- "We want other Afghan processes that are already
active to join the U.N. efforts. We are also working on a mechanism for
a fully representative government," he said.
-
- Indicating that a Loya Jirga, or assembly of tribal
elders,
would be convened soon, Khalili said: "We will let the Loya Jirga
choose and bring (a government)."
-
- This, he emphasised, would pave the way for a situation
whereby "all ethnic groups from different parts of Afghanistan"
could play a role in government formation.
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- The alliance is dominated by minority Taziks, Uzbeks
and Hazars, while Pashtuns, the ethnic tribe that constitutes 40 percent
of Afghanistan's 16 million population, dominates the Taliban.
-
- Northern Alliance forces entered Kabul Tuesday, and
Afghan
tribal leaders Wednesday said four more northeastern provinces, populated
mainly by the majority Pahstuns, had fallen from Taliban hands.
-
- Senior Northern Alliance leaders claimed the Taliban
now held only 20 percent of Afghanistan's territory.
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