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CNN Saturday Morning News

Talks in Germany on Future Afghan Government Face Complications

Aired December 01, 2001 - 07:08   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.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Turning now to the talks in Germany on Afghanistan's political future. Afghan delegates are making a list of candidates to reform an interim government, but the Northern Alliance still hasn't offered its list of candidates.

CNN's Bettina Luescher joins us now live from the U.N.-sponsored talks near Bonn.

Good morning to you, Bettina.

(AUDIO GAP)

BETTINA LUESCHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: ... waiting for the stamp of approval from Kabul that the Northern Alliance list of names has been accepted by the Northern Alliance leaders inside of Afghanistan. The team here has proposed that list of names more than a day ago, but they are still waiting for that approval from Kabul.

In Kabul, there's apparently a meeting going on of the top leadership of the Northern Alliance, and that's what the folks here on the ground are waiting for. And what we're getting this morning is that there appears to be a rift within the Northern Alliance about how the future of Afghanistan should look like, and who should be in the supreme council, this interim supreme council and interim administration.

So there are apparently differing opinions, apparently it was a part of the faction saying, Here's a list of names, go ahead, and apparently a group around Mr. Rabbani, the ousted president, who's still the internationally recognized president, who is apparently still reluctant to approve that list.

But overnight, we also heard from the Northern Alliance's foreign minister, Abdullah Abdullah.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABDULLAH ABDULLAH, FOREIGN MINISTER, NORTHERN ALLIANCE: We will come out of there with an agreement. We shouldn't let this chance to fail once again. And from the other side, what we expect from the international community is to also understand the problems that we are dealing with it, and the problems which we are faced with, while fully intending to make these talks success. (END VIDEO CLIP)

LUESCHER: And of course, all over the last few days and over the last night, I think, very intensive discussions up on this hotel, up on this hill along the Rhine.

And for more on that and how the very last hours have gone, here's CNN's Jim Bitterman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM BITTERMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Things had been going just too well. After three days of optimism and agreement in principle, on day four the Afghan peace talks ground to a halt as divisions widened within the Northern Alliance.

While Northern Alliance delegates here prepared to join other delegations in naming names of people who will form a new government for Afghanistan, in Kabul the nominal leader of the alliance, former president Berhanuddin Rabbani, was increasingly critical of the Bonn meeting, saying the alliance delegation was being pressured into agreement.

When I asked James Dobbins, the U.S. observer at the talks, if there was pressure on the delegates, he didn't deny it.

JAMES DOBBINS, U.S. OBSERVER: All of the international observers here are urging that this process be successfully completed, and, you know, I mean, Mr. Rabbani may consider that pressure, I don't know.

BITTERMAN: Dobbins said the next step depends on the Northern Alliance coming up with its lists.

Even before a late-night session involving all the delegations, members of the group which supports the former king were laying the blame for the hold-up in the talks squarely on Rabbani.

GHULAM MOHD YAILAQI, ADVISER, EXILED KING GROUP: Because Mr. Rabbani doesn't want, doesn't want to cooperate with this peace process, and he wants to be as president of Afghanistan for another time, (inaudible) he doesn't want to give this list.

BITTERMAN: It is unclear exactly how long the other delegations will wait for the Northern Alliance to come up with its lists of names. But one delegate supporting the former king said he was confident the alliance would come through by Saturday.

(on camera): Sources in the Northern Alliance said this issue might well split up the alliance, with those supporting Mr. Rabbani going one way, and those supporting the process here going another.

Jim Bitterman, CNN, Koenigswinter, Germany.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LUESCHER: And of course the other issue that is still unresolved is a security force, a peacekeeping force to secure Afghanistan. And all of this being watched very carefully by international donor countries standing ready to pour hundreds of millions of dollars, maybe billions of dollars, into rebuilding Afghanistan. If there is no deal here in Bonn, there certainly will be repercussions on that front too -- Martin.

SAVIDGE: All right, Bettina Luescher, we hope that they get their act together there in Bonn, Germany. Thank you very much for that report this morning.

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