UN reports Afghan sides moving closer to agreement at Bonn talks
29 November - As United Nations-sponsored talks among Afghan representatives entered their third day in Petersberg,
Germany, UN officials reported that the sides were getting closer - but had not yet reached - an agreement on future
power-sharing arrangements.
"We are hoping that we can have a final agreement here on the composition of both entities - both the supreme council
and the interim administration," said Ahmad Fawzi, the spokesman for Secretary-General's Special Representative for
Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi. The delegates, he added, "see the urgency of a handover of power in Kabul, and they think
that these groups should be formed in Bonn."
Mr. Brahimi today met together with all of the factions - the Northern Alliance, the Rome group, the Cyprus group and
the Peshawar group - following a series of separate meetings he held with them last night.
In addition to the talks amongst and between the Afghan groups, a meeting was held between a delegation of European
women leaders and the Afghan women representatives attending the talks. The European delegation - Britt Thorin of
Sweden, Anne-Marie Lizin of Belgium and Karin Junker of Germany - highlighted the important role of women in building
Afghanistan's future.
Reporting on the meeting, Mr. Fawzi said the Afghan women had expressed gratitude to the delegation of European women
leaders for their support, and recounted "the long suffering and suppression of women during the long years of war,
especially during the past five years, and said that they were glad that they were now going to have the opportunity to
resume their traditional and historical roles as active members of Afghanistan society in all fields."
ENDS