U.S. President George W. Bush on Monday hailed the advances in Afghanistan by the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance but reiterated the U.S. opposition to the control of Afghan capital of Kabul by the alliance.
"I am pleased with the progress we are making in Afghanistan,...The success up north has been very good," Bush said in an interview with Russian reporters prior to Russian President Vladimir Putin's coming visit to the U.S.
Bush, who warned Saturday that the Northern Alliance should notadvance to Kabul, said the Russian leader agreed with him that a post-Taliban Afghan government needs to be broad-based and includeall of Afghanistan's tribes, factions and parties.
"The president (Putin) recognizes that in order for there to bea stable future in Afghanistan all parties must be represented in a post-Taliban government," Bush said.
He said Putin "fully understands the significance of Kabul" andknows that it "must be a multi-tribal city" once liberated.
Bush noted that the U.S. will take seriously Russia's views over a post-Taliban government. "I trust his (Putin's) judgment on this matter," the U.S. president said.
Bush said that Putin also provided him advice on how the war inAfghanistan should be conducted as well as information about the Northern Alliance.
( Xinhua News Agency November 13, 2001)
