Kabul's new rulers
tighten grip
Leaders of the Northern Alliance have taken
over key ministries in the Afghan capital,
Kabul, as diplomatic efforts intensified to fill a
power vacuum left by the fleeing Taleban
Northern Alliance leaders were reported to have installed themselves in the defence and interior ministries, while police and troops from one faction of the alliance - ousted Afghan President Burhannuddin Rabbani's Jamiat faction - set up road blocks and patrolled the streets.
Alliance officials said their takeover of the ministries was temporary and they still supported a political settlement which would bring together all the country's ethnic groups.
The BBC's Kate Clark in Kabul says many people are cynical about these claims.
Anxiety
Diplomats and the UN are anxious that a broad-based interim administration, reflecting all Afghanistan's factions, be put in place quickly.
Reports that ousted President Rabbani was expected in Kabul soon - he was originally scheduled to arrive today - have added to the sense of urgency.
The need for progress working out a political blueprint for Afghanistan has been underlined by the rapid changes on the ground, as opposition forces claim to have reduced Taleban-held territory to less than 20% of the country.
Security Council debate
The UN Security Council is currently debating a resolution, sponsored by Britain and France, which endorses the plan for Afghanistan announced by the top UN envoy to Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi.
Mr Brahimi wants to convene a meeting of all Afghan factions within the next few days to agree on the plan's first stage - a provisional council.
It had been reported that this meeting would take place in the United Arab Emirates, but the UN denied it had chosen a location yet.
UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said Mr Brahimi favoured a venue near Afghanistan, possibly in the Middle East, but he said the UN had a "back-up" in Vienna or Geneva.
Mr Brahimi also wants a security force, preferably multi-national, to ensure the stability of the ravaged nation, and the Security Council resolution would go some way to endorsing this too.
A number of Muslim countries have been mentioned as possible contributors to the security force. But there may be a pause before troops can be deployed, and British troops have been put on standby in case they are needed to fill it at short notice.
Rabbani's role
Mr Rabbani, deposed by the Taleban in 1996, is still recognised by the UN as Afghanistan's president.
Said Ibragim Khikmat, ambassador for the Afghan government-in-exile in Tajikistan, said: "He (Rabbani) will lead the provinces freed from the Taleban and also head the task of freeing provinces now under the control of the Islamist militia".
Washington's special envoy to the Afghan opposition, James Dobbins, is on his way to Pakistan for talks on the Afghan interim administration, and the Iranian Interior Minister, Abdolhaved Mousavi-Lari, is also in Islamabad.
A senior UN official, Francesc Vendrell, will travel to Kabul as soon as it is safe to do so.
The UN has made it clear that, in addition to assisting the political effort, its priorities lie with the humanitarian needs that have to be addressed as winter closes in.
Further problems could arise from insurgencies by Taleban forces reported to be fleeing into Pakistan.
King's plea
The former Afghan King, Zahir Shah, urged Afghans on Wednesday to unite and choose their own destiny, the Associated Press reported.
The former king made no mention of his own future role. His aides said he intends to return to his nation soon as a symbol of national unity.
The king has been seen by the US-led coalition as a possible head of a post-Taleban government.
Mr Rabbani earlier said that former king was
welcome to return, but only as a private
citizen.
-- Anonymous, November 14, 2001