The leader of the Northern Alliance has proposed an interim government that would keep him and his coalition in control of the country for as long as six more months, the Washington Post reported Monday.
Burhanuddin Rabbani, the alliance's nominal leader who is still recognized by the United Nations as Afghanistan's president, floated the idea, which he had not presented to delegates, in an interview with the daily.
"Primarily, we'll have an investigation about the people from al Qaeda because our people must know about this, why they came to Afghanistan to kill our people," Rabbani said in an interview.
"Then we will discuss it with the Americans. We have a cooperation with America, but it's a matter for the future. First we'll have an investigation. Then we'll discuss it," said the 61-year-old theologian, who served as president from 1992 until his ouster by the Taliban in 1996.
Rabbani told the Post that his plan would allay concerns of the Pashtun ethnic group -- Afghanistan's largest -- by giving a Pashtun leader a position equivalent to that of prime minister.
He expressed his opposition to a substantial role in the government by former king Zahir Shah, insisting that the king be treated as just another participant on the leadership council.
"He can participate, he can have a role here -- but as an Afghan, not an extraordinary role," Rabbani said.
Rabbani also said that if his troops captured accused terrorist Osama bin Laden, Taliban leader Mohammad Omar or top figures of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, he would not turn them over to the United States until after Afghanistan conducted its own investigation.
His comments came just two days after Defense Secretary Donal Rumsfeld said Washington expected the Alliance to hand over such figures for trial in US military tribunals if asked to by the United States government -- AFP
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
