HOPES for a ceasefire to avert a battle for Kabul rose yesterday, although a wide gap remained over the terms.
A spokesman for the Taliban said the leadership had provisionally accepted an offer from Gen Abdul Rashid Dostum, the Uzbek warlord, whereby prisoners would he exchanged and peace talks would follow.
The open ended ceasefire falls short of the conditions laid down by Gen Ahmed Shah Massood, the defence minister in the ousted government - namely immediate talks on Kabul's demilitarisation and the Talihan's withdrawal.
The Massood proposal was rejected yesterday by Mullah Amir Khan Mutaqi of the Talihan. "In practice Kabul is demilitarised already," he said. "The city is controlled by police."
It is clear the Talihan hope to drive a wedge between Gen Dostum and Gen Massood. The two men, virtually at war for three years, formed an alliance only two weeks ago after the Taliban started to sweep northwards.
Asked why the Taliban preferred to talk to an ex Communist like Gene Dostum rather than an exmujahed like Gen Massood, the mullah said. Massood always breaks his promises. We realise he's not sincere."
The real reason is probably that Gen Dostum has a better equipped army, while Gen Massood's men's skills lie in guerrilla fighting.
However, the Taliban charter calls for a unified Afghanistan and it would find it hard to concede a de facto division of the country by leaving the Uzhek warlord a free hand to run his non fundamentalist form of Islam in the north.
Signs of disagreement also emerged yesterday between Dr Norbert Holl, the UN special envoy, and Pakistan. Pakistan has been supplying the Taliban and seems largely intent on preserving Taliban control. A TalibanDostum deal would benefit Pakistan by providing secure transport links to Central Asia and the oil and as fields of the Caspian region.
At a Kabul press conference, Dr Holl emphasised that no Afghan government could expect international recognition and foreign aid if it violated human rights.
"Article 3 of the UN Charter talks about gender discrimination ... Whoever controls Afghanistan is bound by the Charter, unless they want to walk out of the UN," he said.