ISLAMABAD Dec 6: Pir Syed Ahmed Gilani, a prominent figure in the Zahir Shah group and chief of National Islamic Front of Afghanistan, has expressed his reservations over the Bonn accord.

Speaking at an emergent news conference at his residence here on Thursday Pir Gilani said, “although the new head of government, Hamid Karzai, was a popular Pakhtoon leader, still, no one person can do it alone, the whole team needs to play a collective role in ensuring peace in Afghanistan.”

He, however, hoped that the UN would constitute a committee to form a Loya Jirga (grand assembly) to ultimately settle the issues which remained unresolved at Bonn.

Pir Gilani said that as a result of the Bonn agreement almost all old faces have re-emerged. He alleged that the selection of ministers was unjustified, as all the ministerial slots were assigned to those who were ministers in the Rabbani regime, and those who had a role in Jihad, were ignored.

He, however, commended UN’s role in convening the Bonn conference and then pursuing the participants till the signing of agreement. He was also pleased at the support extended by the US, European Union, Islamic states and other friendly countries. Pir Gilani, rated as a moderate religious Afghan leader, who headed one of the seven important Jihadi organizations during the Afghan Jihad said, he did not believe in ethnic divide of Pakhtoon and non-Pakhtoon, and supported one Afghan nation.

Replying to a question he said that the Pakhtoons were in majority and they should fulfil their responsibilities as an elder brother, and other ethnic groups should respect this position.

With regards the Afghan leadership not honouring past agreements, Gilani said, “One should hope that the new people would not repeat the mistakes of their predecessors, and the UN would keep a vigilant eye on any violation of the agreed formula”.

To another query he said, the Taliban were finished as a movement or as an organization, but they were there as part of the Afghan nation. He agreed that if any Taliban individual or a group was cleared of accountability, he should be given his due role in future.

He is a supporter of the collective action against Osama bin Laden and his organization. In his view, they had committed the gravest criminal act against humanity; they should be punished according to law, he added.