The UN talks on Afghanistan were back on track yesterday after the Northern Alliance appeared to back down on their opposition to the key issue of an international security force.
After rejecting the need for international support on Wednesday, the Alliance delegation denied they had changed their position yesterday. They said they were misunderstood and mistranslated and had accepted the need for the international force all along.
"Once a transitional mechanism is established, if that necessitated international peacekeeping force, we will not oppose that," said Mr Yunus Qanooni, the leader of the Northern Alliance delegation.
"Since yesterday there has been no change that I can see in our position. The message we wanted to get across was distorted in the translation," he said through a second translator yesterday. "I hope we don't need a third translator tomorrow," he added.
The four Afghan groups at talks near Bonn are discussing UN proposals for the future of Afghanistan, which include an interim administration to run the country and a security force to maintain law and order.
By reducing hopes of agreement on the security issue in Bonn, it appeared that the Northern Alliance were pushing for further talks in Kabul, their preferred location for talks all along.
Whether or not Mr Qanooni was mistranslated, it is likely that he came under pressure last night from the Northern Alliance foreign minister in Kabul, Mr Abdullah Abdullah. He contradicted Mr Qanooni's position hours after Wednesday's press conference.
The Northern Alliance is adamant that any international force must be all-Muslim to be accepted by Afghans, and should be restricted to border control and a peacekeeping, not a peace-enforcing, role.
The Northern Alliance delegation said they were "much more optimistic" about the prospect of reaching agreement on the main issues on the table in Petersberg Castle, across the Rhine from Bonn.
"I hope that in the next days we will come to an agreement which represents the aspirations of the Afghan people of bringing about peace in our country," said Mr Qanooni yesterday.
The UN said they were "edging the delegates forward" and hoped the talks would end with a consensus from all sides on Saturday.
The UN spokesman, Mr Ahmed Fawzi, said all four delegations agreed that two groups would be formed in Bonn to rule Afghanistan for the next six months.
He said all sides are now drawing up lists of names of candidates to participate in the supreme council, a parliament of up to 200 members, and a cabinet-style interim administration with 15 members. In March, a loya jirga, a traditional ethnic gathering, would pick the next administration which would begin work on a constitution and work towards free elections.
The two largest groups, the Northern Alliance and the Rome-based supporters of the former king, say they have agreed on a format for the parliament or supreme council, and are close to agreeing on the format of an interim administration. All sides have declined to mention any candidate names.
The Northern Alliance also appeared to soften their position towards the former king, Mr Zahir Shah.
"The former king is a national and political figure. He can play an important role ensuring national unit and political integrity in the country," said Mr Qanooni.
Mr Fawzi, said the four delegations were aware of the pressure on them from the international community to reach agreement. "Afghanistan has probably never had and never will have such attention," he said.
