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CNN Live At Daybreak
Talks Between Afghan Factions Get Underway
Aired November 27, 2001 - 06:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DONNA KELLEY, CNN ANCHOR: Right now let's go to Christiane Amanpour in Kabul. She has the mood there in the capital as those political talks get underway in Germany -- Christiane.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well Donna expectation is very high here. Despite living the very harsh realities of war, everyone here that we talk to is very clear about what they want for the future and that is a real political solution for the future of this country.
They want a broad-based alliance, they say. They want the former King Zahir Shah to head a transitional government. They say they remember with great fondness the years of peace that they had in the '60s under Zahir Shah.
They say that they do not want the former factional leaders who fought so bitterly over the last 10 years, at least particularly in the city of Kabul to come back and dominate and again perhaps, bring this country back into war. Now these leaders are meeting in Bonn, Germany at the moment.
Apparently those talks have got under way there. There are four main delegations, one belonging to the Northern Alliance, which is the main body here in Afghanistan and the one that controls most of Afghanistan now. There are also the exile Afghan group including the former Shah's group and there are also some women in the delegation.
Now the issue of women here for the women of Afghanistan is very important. They're saying that finally they want their rights to be put on the table. They want their concerns to be addressed and they're expressing a little bit of discomfort that the delegates, too, that those talks -- women delegates are mostly not from Afghanistan.
In other words, they've spent most of their life in exile. People here are very determined that the needs of the people inside Afghanistan, particularly the women, be met. In terms of getting these factions to actually agree to a political solution, in terms of that, the U.S. envoy there, Jim Dobbins, tells CNN that he believes the Afghan factions have gone to -- quote -- "deal seriously". He says that there is also the threat and the promise of billions of dollars of reconstruction aid.
That aid will be given only if there is a broad-based inclusive government, at least a transitional government that comes out of these talks and a government that is formally recognized. So a lot of incentive for the leaders at these talks to get together and form a road map and from what we're hearing from the Northern Alliance members who left Kabul yesterday, they say they're prepared to deal seriously and to enter a power sharing arrangement Donna.
KELLEY: Christiane Amanpour in Kabul. Thanks very much.
And for more on the meeting in Germany and what some Afghan civilians think about the process, here's CNN's Ben Wedeman.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: (INAUDIBLE) has heard about the upcoming meeting of Afghan factions in Germany. Digging up turnips with his family in the ruins of Kabul, he doubts the self-appointed factional leaders will be able to cope peace from the hard dry soil of Afghanistan.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): If those people wanted peace, they could have made it before, he says. But they didn't. All this destruction around us is their work.
WEDEMAN: Having seen their city mauled by factional and fighting leading up to the Taliban takeover in 1996, they don't have much faith in the warlords. Four different groups will take part in the Bonn talks. The Northern Alliance holds the most cards flushed with victory after retaking much of the country from the Taliban. Alliance leaders say they're committed to sharing power.
ABDULLAH ABDULLAH, NORTHERN ALLIANCE FOREIGN MINISTER: Nothing could have happened without our forces liberate those areas. Then that does not mean a solution, a lasting solution. A lasting solution will be to give the people in those areas, which are liberated, a chance to give them a voice to express their views, to express their will, and to be a part of the decision making process.
WEDEMAN: Also taking part will be the so-called "Rome group," affiliated with the former king of Afghanistan 86-year old Mohammed Zahir Shah. He has lived in the Italian capital since being deposed in 1973. Another group will represent the more than two million Afghan refugees in Pakistan. This group is closely aligned with Islamabad.
The fourth group is closely affiliated with exiled Iranian backed warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. The Taliban have not been invited. Analysts say the people of Afghanistan must be allowed to decide their own future.
M.J. GOHAL, POLITICAL ANALYST: If we try to impose any kind of vestments to start a democracy on them or try to sort of get involved in their internal affairs, we will only create another mess. We'll be back to square one again where Iran will back one faction; Pakistan another faction; the Russians another one; the Americans another one; and so on and so forth. And it'll become a big mess all over again.
WEDEMAN: The talks in Germany are the first step in a process aimed at setting up a broad-based government representing all of Afghanistan's diverse ethnic groups and political persuasion. Getting this country's bickering factions to agree on anything will be difficult enough, but the real challenge ahead is to reconstruct this shattered country after more than two decades of death and destruction.
Ben Wedeman, CNN, Kabul.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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