The UN has warned that the success of the talks on the future of Afghanistan, that begin today near Bonn, depends entirely on the four delegations of Afghan political groups.
As the Northern Alliance delegation arrived in Koenigswinter yesterday, UN officials conducted preliminary talks with other delegations but insisted that Afghans "have the first and last word" in the talks.
"This is a golden opportunity for the people of Afghanistan. If we fail, the leaders who came to the table in Bonn will have to shoulder their responsibilities," said Mr Ahmad Fawzi, spokesman for the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Afghanistan, Mr Lakhdar Brahimi.
After opening speeches tomorrow morning by Mr Brahimi and the German Foreign Minister, Mr Joschka Fischer, the delegates will break into smaller groups and talks will proceed in what UN officials call an "unstructured" fashion.
The four Afghan delegations of principal negotiators are supported by a team of advisers.
When consensus is reached on an issue, it will be taken to a plenary stage.
The UN expects the talks to last a week but officials say this is "completely dependent on the Afghans".
"If we can turn these four groups into one group our work is done," said Mr Fawzi.
The first task ahead of delegates is to agree on a transitional administration, a cabinet of 20 or 25 members to take charge in Kabul.
The "Rome group", comprised of supporters of the 87-year-old exiled king, Zahir Shah, will have 11 members at the negotiating table, according to provisional lists yesterday evening.
Five places each have been set aside for the Pakistan-backed Peshawar group of Pashtun exiles and the Iranian-backed, Cyprus exile group.
The Northern Alliance delegation is made up of 11 and is lead by Mr Yunis Qanuni, interior minister in Kabul.
Neither Mr Burhanuddin Rabbani, the Northern Alliance leader, nor his military chief will attend the talks, leading to fears that the delegation will not have sufficient authority to agree to anything substantial at the talks.
As well as a transitional administration, delegates will be asked to agree on a security proposal for Afghanistan.
The UN believes the most viable solution to the conflict is the deployment of a multinational force with a UN Security Council mandate.
Mr Fawzi said criticisms that the groups do not represent women and the Pashtun ethnic group - the largest in the country - were unfounded.
The Rome delegation has two women negotiators and several groups have Pashtun negotiators, he said.
"Afghanistan is a very big country with at least 30 ethnic groups.
But this is not a meeting of ethnic groups, this is a meeting of political groups," said Mr Fawzi, saying the UN was "lucky to have got four groups together".
Security was tight in Koenigswinter yesterday.
Machine-gun wielding soldiers guarded the entrance to the hillside Petersberg Castle, a government guesthouse across the Rhine from Bonn. It is here that the closed-door talks will get underway at 10 a.m. today.
