DUSHANBE, Oct 22: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday came out strongly against the Taliban participation in a new Afghan government and reasserted Russia’s role in determining who should succeed the beleaguered government in Kabul.

In a move that recalled Moscow’s support for earlier pro-Soviet regimes in the Afghan capital, Putin signed a joint statement with ousted president Burhanuddin Rabbani and stressed Russia’s support for the opposition Northern Alliance.

The present Taliban regime can have no role to play “because it has compromised itself with international terrorism”, Putin said during a short visit to the Tajik capital on his way back to Moscow from the APEC summit in Shanghai.

The Russian leader signed a joint statement with his Tajik counterpart Emomali Rakhmonov and Rabbani on “the need to find a political solution for Afghanistan”.

The formation of a new government in Kabul should involve a stronger role for the United Nations “and all foreign governments”, the leaders said.

The statement marks Russia’s strongest declaration of support yet for the Northern Alliance, though it has backed the anti-Taliban alliance for several years.

In phrasing clearly intended to head off fears of a division of Afghanistan along ethnic lines, the Dushanbe statement stressed that “all the ethnic groups should take part in forming the next Afghan government”.

Putin told reporters later that Russia’s objective in the region was “to allow the return of civilian life (in Afghanistan) and to help install a state which is friendly towards its neighbours and Russia”.

He pledged to provide military and other support to the “legitimate” government of Afghanistan — a clear reference to Rabbani and his exiled ministers.

“Russia has long supported the legitimate government of Afghanistan and confirms its desire to offer it military, technical and humanitarian support,” he said.

Rabbani was deposed by the Taliban in 1996 but is still recognized as Afghanistan’s president by the United Nations and most states.

His Northern Alliance controls a swathe of territory in northern Afghanistan and has gone onto the offensive following the US bombing raids.

The alliance was created following the seizure of power by Taliban militias in 1996.

By stopping over in Tajikistan, a short distance from the Afghan border, Putin underscored Russia’s determination to play a key role in reshaping Afghanistan’s political future and if possible restore a friendly post-Taliban regime.

His stopover also signalled Moscow’s reluctance to allow Washington to become the main player in Central Asia.

In Shanghai, where he attended the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum Sunday, Putin had reiterated his strong support for the military strikes on the Taliban.

In Moscow, unnamed “military-diplomatic” sources quoted by the RIA Novosti news agency said work on forming a provisional Afghan government could begin after a further two to three weeks of military operations.

Russia is concerned that the conflict in Afghanistan could destabilize the former Soviet republics of Central Asia, which Moscow considers as its backyard and which have already had to face an increase in militancy.

Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, which have recently been torn by wars or armed insurrections and share borders with Afghanistan, fear that militants might illegally enter their territory among the Afghan refugees fleeing their strife-ridden country.—AFP