WASHINGTON/KABUL, 6 December — A day of monumental achievements, heralding a new era for battered Afghanistan, was thrown into temporary confusion yesterday. Just as Afghanistan’s new ruling factions formed an interim government, the Pashtun tribal chief named to lead it had to deny he was injured by a stray US bomb.
US officials, who asked not to be identified, admitted that the bomb had killed three American servicemen, and initially said Hamid Karzai was in the area when it was dropped by a US B-52 bomber. It was first reported that Karzai received slight injuries, and Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke said: "We have heard that Karzai has been out, he’s been visible, seems to be doing fine." However, Karzai later issued a statement categorically denying that he had been injured.
Apart from the three US fatalities, all of whom were special forces, five troops from the Northern Alliance were also killed, an unknown number were injured and 19 Americans were wounded.
At negotiations outside Bonn in Germany, Afghan groups agreed on most members of a post-Taleban government intended to lead a country shattered by two decades of war toward democracy and rebuild with billions of dollars in Western aid.
The UN-brokered deal, reached before dawn on the ninth day of grueling talks and signed hours later, establishes on Dec. 22 a government of 30 members reflecting Afghanistan’s ethnic patchwork.
The interim government, led by Karzai, will rule for six months until a Loya Jirga, or traditional grand assembly, is opened by former King Zahir Shah. The assembly will appoint a transitional government for 18 months until a constitution is approved and elections held.
The accord also asks the UN Security Council to authorize international peacekeepers for Kabul. Germany said its soldiers and other European forces could take part with representatives from other nations.
The Northern Alliance, which controls Kabul after capturing the capital a month ago, will hold the most powerful ministries of interior, defense and foreign affairs. All three ministers are Tajiks from the Panjsher Valley in northeast Afghanistan. There are at least two women in the new Cabinet.
Pakistan, erstwhile sponsor of the Taleban, said it was "delighted" with the plan that was also welcomed by Bush. Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar told Reuters that news of the deal to set up an interim authority for post-Taleban Afghanistan was broken to President Pervez Musharraf at a Cabinet meeting.
President Musharraf told the Cabinet meeting that Pakistan wished the interim administration every success and assured it of Pakistan’s support and cooperation, a statement said.
Afghanistan’s western neighbor Iran said it had no objection to the naming of Karzai to head the interim government. "The Islamic Republic of Iran has not made such a proposal, but if Hamid Karzai is appointed as the head of the interim government, Tehran will welcome him," Deputy Foreign Minister Muhammad Javad Zarif said.
The Taleban said the new government would be viewed as unacceptable puppets by the Afghan people.
A scion of the prominent Durrani tribe, Karzai, 46, earned his master’s degree in political science in Simla, India, and is known to be a student of Mahatma Gandhi’s works. He left India in the 1980s to fight the Soviet occupation of his homeland. His father was shot dead by the Taleban in the Pakistani town of Quetta in 1999. The Durranis form the second largest Pashtun clan. It was founded by Ahmed Shah Durrani, a Persian soldier who conquered Kandahar in 1747 and became the first king of Afghanistan.
In eastern Afghanistan, anti-Taleban forces aimed tank fire toward a cave fortress suspected of being a hideout of Osama Bin Laden. US sources reported that some of his senior lieutenants may have been killed or wounded in recent days but there was no confirmation.
Ayman Al-Zawahri, the top deputy to Bin Laden, was reported to have been wounded in the attacks, and the group’s treasurer, Ali Mahmud, was killed, according to a local Afghan military commander, Haji Muhammad Zaman.
According to the Afghan Islamic Press a Taleban delegation held peace talks with Karzai at Shah Walikot, just north of Kandahar. "We do not want bloodshed in Kandahar and want to solve the problem peacefully," an unnamed Taleban spokesman was quoted by AIP as saying.
The world’s largest Islamic body called for a UN investigation into last week’s killing of hundreds of Taleban and foreign Al-Qaeda prisoners after they staged a revolt. Abdelouhed Belkeziz, head of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, said in a statement that the killings had drawn protest from Muslim countries and should be probed.
The suppression of the revolt at a fortress in northern Afghanistan, using US airstrikes, Northern Alliance tanks and US and British special forces, prompted expressions of concern from rights group Amnesty International which also called for an investigation.
