Afghan rivals finally signed a landmark accord yesterday to form a post-Taliban government that hopes to rebuild the shattered country with billions of dollars of international aid.
After negotiating through the night, the four delegation heads initialed the deal at the secluded Petersberg Hotel outside Bonn, just hours before a major Berlin aid conference was due to start.
The four seated rivals passed the agreement for signing along a polished table to applause from German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer and other dignitaries.
The deal, reached before dawn on the ninth day of gruelling talks, creates an interim administration in which the militarily dominant Northern Alliance shares power with exile groups. It takes power in the Afghan capital on December 22.
The signatories in Bonn were the Northern Alliance, drawn largely from the Tajik, Hazara and Uzbek minorities, and three exile factions - the pro-king Rome group, the Pakistan-based Peshawar group and the Cyprus group of intellectuals.
The accord also invites the UN Security Council to mandate international peacekeepers to guarantee security in Kabul.
It sets out a symbolic role for former king Zahir Shah in calling a Loya Jirga, or traditional grand council, in six months to approve a more permanent government ahead of the drafting of a constitution and elections two years from now.
"The eyes of the world will be on you and you carry a huge responsibility," UN special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi told delegates after the signing.
Brahimi said the world had often ignored the suffering of the people of Afghanistan and it was vital to maintain the support of the international community as the country starts to rebuild after 23 years of war.
Welcoming the accord, European Union External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten said it was a crucial first step towards getting Afghanistan back on its feet.
Diplomats said the signing could mean the Berlin aid conference would approve emergency funds for the ruined land.
(China Daily December 6, 2001)
