Designate Afghan interim government head Mr Hamid Karzai arrived in Rome last night to meet former king Mr Mohammad Zahir Shah.
Mr Shah (87), who has lived in exile in the Italian capital since 1973, is due to return home in six months to open a Loya Jirga, or grand council, to map out the country's future as part of a UN-sponsored plan.
Mr Karzai told reporters in Rome he believed an international peace force was likely to arrive in Kabul before his government takes office this Saturday.
A senior US official in Kabul has said advance soldiers from an international peace force would arrive in Kabul in time for the government to take office.
Details of the proposed multinational peace force's make-up have yet to be announced. British prime minister Mr Tony Blair has suggested Britain would contribute up to 1,500 troops.
The force, to guard the peace in the capital city Kabul and other locations, was a key part of the deal signed in Germany paving the way for the new post-Taliban interim administration to take power.
Since then, the Northern Alliance, which now controls the capital, has said it wants to see no over 1,000 foreign troops with a tightly defined mandate, mainly to guard government meetings.
But countries expected to contribute troops have discussed a much larger force with a more robust mission.