'Broadbased govt. planned for Afghanistan will include Taliban'

By Vaiju Naravane

ROME, OCT. 2. General Abdul Wali, brother-in-law of Afghanistan's exiled former ruler, Mohammed Zahir Shah, today spelt out the details of an agreement reached on Monday between Shah and a delegation of the Northern Alliance, in an exclusive interview with The Hindu.

The agreement proposes ways to establish a broadbased, popular government in Afghanistan by convening a Loya Jirga - council of ethnic and tribal chiefs - to set up a new transitional government. The Taliban will not be excluded from this process.

Gen. Wali, who is married to the King's sister, Princess Bilkees, and has been close to the King throughout his 28-year exile, suggested that India might be missing a historic opportunity to play a constructive role in shaping the future of Afghanistan. ``May be India had an Afghan policy and perhaps it supported the successive governments in Kabul more than it supported the resistance. I hope India will now formulate an Afghan policy that corresponds to reality, that means not only in the light of their relationship to Pakistan. A policy for Afghanistan that would be for Afghanistan and Pakistan.''

Asked if India's support to the Northern Alliance was belated and opportunistic, Gen. Wali said: ``Your leadership should interest itself more in the people of Afghanistan, to help us get out of this situation of misery and servitude. India has assisted in constructing and running one or two hospitals in the past. We could think about that on a larger scale. Many years ago, His Majesty received India's Foreign Minister (Mr. Natwar Singh) who called while he was passing through.''

On whether India had sent emissaries or attempted to make contact in recent days, Gen. Wali said: ``I have met Indian ambassadors or personalities at receptions. More than that I cannot say. But I can assure you we like Indians.''

The former ruler of Afghanistan received promises of support from a delegation of U.S. Congressmen who called on him last weekend. But, despite international support, the logistics of holding a Loya Jirga appear to be insurmountable at this point in time, given the Taliban's control of 80 per cent of the territory.

The Taliban and Pakistan have described the King as a ``puppet of the United States.'' Asked whether he saw a turnaround in Islamabad's policy towards Kabul in the light of the Pakistan President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf's remarks that the Taliban's days appeared to be numbered, Gen. Wali said ``Pakistan has followed a policy which it felt was in its own interest. May be they now realise this did not give good results. They have helped the Taliban, there is no point in denying this. I hope Pakistan understands that the type of government that will exist will be friendly towards Pakistan. Pakistan is our neighbour, we have various things in common and we do not wish to have a hostile attitude towards them. We must create an area of peace in the region and India's role is very important. I hope that the differences that exist in the subcontinent involving mostly India and Pakistan will be settled in the interests of the people of the area.''

Referring to what is now being described as the ``Rome Process,'' Gen. Wali said: ``His Majesty believes that sovereignty is of the people. This new plan is to convoke the Loya Jirga, an old Afghan institution which differs from the parliament in that it does not meet regularly but only on very special occasions of great import. Its decisions are accepted by all. So this new government will have to come through a Loya Jirga and will have two essential qualities necessary for a government to function: legitimacy for the head of state who will be proclaimed or elected and it will have legality by the government. He will be presented to the Loya Jirga and obtain a vote of confidence.'' With legality and legitimacy, Afghanistan could hope to attract help from foreign governments to rebuild the shattered country.

Mr. Mohammed Younus Quanooni, who heads the Northern Alliance delegation described the three days of talks as a unique opportunity and ``the start of a new era for the Afghans to bring unity to the country.''

The new agreement could lead to the holding of an ``emergency Loya Jirga,'' for the first time in 37 years and is considered by experts to be a turning point in the present impasse in which the country finds itself.

``It was decided that a supreme council or a Shoora should start functioning as soon as possible to prepare for the emergency Loya Jirga. After a period of transition which might last eighteen months to two years, another, normal, traditional or non- emergency Loya Jirga will be convoked in order to ratify the constitution and take other necessary measures,'' Gen. Wali said. The location of the Shoora would be in Afghanistan whenever that became possible and would include ``all the ethnic communities in Afghanistan.''

The door was not closed to the Taliban, Gen. Wali said. ``I would like to make it absolutely clear that His Majesty is not a pretender to the throne. He is an Afghan patriot who has decided to place himself at the service of the Afghan nation. He is now 87 and wishes to spend the rest of his life to help resolve the country's problems. And the most important problem now is that of leadership.''

Describing the former ruler as ``a patriot and wise man,'' Gen. Wali said he was considered by many Afghans as the father of the nation. ``He is a much-loved person. People refer to him as Baba, a word of respect. Only one other King of Afghanistan was given that honorific title, and that was Ahmed Shah Durrani.''

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