WASHINGTON, May 6: Afghan President Hamid Karzai made a major political gain this week when key members of a rebel group switched loyalties to back him. The Hizb-i-Islami Party was responsible for the collapse of the first post-Soviet government in Afghanistan and had been fighting the Karzai regime for the last two years.

The details were released in Washington by the Afghan embassy while some information was included in a statement released here by the US embassy in Kabul.

"The Afghanistan transitional government represents a new beginning for Afghanistan ... we want to help (establish) a strong, elected government," said a statement signed by several key Hizb-i-Islami leaders.

"I welcome my brothers from the Hizb-i-Islami and value the prudent and patriotic step they have taken," Mr Karzai reciprocated. Apparently, the signatories broke away from the party chief, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, after lengthy negotiations with the Karzai government. US ambassador in Kabul, Zalmay Khalilzad, is believed to have played a key role in arranging the deal.

"The United States ... will see this as an enormously important and helpful development in Afghanistan's post-Taliban redevelopment," he said. Congratulating President Karzai and the rebel group, Mr Khalilzad said he saw this success as indicating that the government was "gaining wider acceptance among the Afghan people, including former opposition leaders".

President Karzai's welcoming statement was much shorter and more precise. Besides welcoming the rebels, the statement explained that two Afghan vice presidents, Mohammed Fahim and Karim Khalili, met with the "authoritative committee of the Hizb-i-Islami's decision-making council".

The statement also added a sentence from the two vice presidents saying, "Today an opportunity exists for Afghanistan to leave behind the past of war and destruction and move towards a future of peace, harmony and reconstruction".

Earlier, 11 key Hizb-i-Islami members announced that they had decided to support Karzai. "We are going to cooperate with the government _ we will participate in the upcoming elections, and we will send representatives to the new parliament," said the party's former political officer.