November 18, 2001	Sunday	Ramazan 2, 1422

ROME, Nov 17: Senior associates of former Afghan king Mohammed Zahir Shah on Saturday said the Northern Alliance was slowing down political efforts to piece together an ethnically diverse replacement for the Taliban militia.

“They (the Northern Alliance) are the reason for slowing down the process. They have unfortunately always set forth excuses,” the aide, Abdul Sattar Sirat said.

In an interview here, he added that the level of contact and cooperation between the alliance and the exiled Afghan figurehead reached a new low after the Taliban’s flight from Kabul this week.

“After the fall of Kabul we knew each other’s views only through the media,” he said.

Last month, the Alliance agreed with Zahir Shah to form the so-called Supreme Council for National Unity of Afghanistan with an equal representation of 60 nominees from each side.

But its leaders have so far failed to take part in subsequent talks expected in Rome the same month and resheduled for Turkey later.

Sirat said that Zahir Shah might go ahead with his own plans if the Alliance leaders failed to meet his team to discuss preparations to choosing a transition set up.

“We can convene this council on our own. This should not take too long. It should be clear in two weeks (if) the United Nations starts its work,” he said.

Sirat said that the only reason Zahir Shah has so far waited is his agreement with the Northern Alliance.

“First we prefer that the Northern Alliance to come forward to sit with us. If they do not come, we then would make our own list,”

He said that the ex-king’s entourage was ready to meet the Northern Alliance delegation some where inside Afghanistan apart from the capital Kabul.

Sirat also condemned the return of the ousted Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani to the capital as a “failed experiment” of the past.—AFP