General Dostum To Boycott Afghan Provisional Government

Ethnic Uzbek General Abdul Rashid Dostum, one of the most influential commanders of the Northern Alliance, stated that he would boycott the Afghan provisional government which had been set up in Germany. According to the Al-Jazeera TV-station, Dostum's troops control the town of Mazar-e-Sharif (the Balkh province) in Northern Afghanistan and several other regions of the country. His units are basically manned with Afghan Uzbeks. The Afghan provisional government was set up in Bonn during the conference under the UN aegis. It was held with the participation of four delegations representing the main anti-Taliban forces. Pashtun leader Hamid Karzai has been elected the Prime Minister.