Controversy Hampers Agreement At Bonn Conference On Post-taliban Afghanistan

The UN conference on Afghanistan's post-Taliban arrangements finds it hard to reach an agreement on the interim government. The key nominee for the top position in the interim administration is Hamid Karzai, an authoritative Pashto leader from southern Afghanistan. But as the United States has been actively promoting his candidacy, Karzai has for many of the delegates become something like an "outsider." On the other hand, the Americans proceed from the fact that as the Pashto constitute a majority of Afghanistan's population, the Afghan government should be headed by a Pashto, reports the German press agency DPA. The report remarks that ethnic Tajik Abdul Sattar Sirat, head of former Afghan king Mohammad Zahir Shah's delegation at the talks and another aspirant to the position of interim PM, is no Pashto. Besides, he is a weak politician and a candidate unacceptable for the United Nations. Thus, the possibility of signing the draft agreement for an interim government in Afghanistan on Monday seems unlikely. Along with other hurdles, there has been a delay in translating the draft into Dari and Pashto. All the above information is unofficial for the moment. UN spokesman Ahmad Fawzi has not yet made any related statements today.