The Northern Alliance was ready and willing to run Afghanistan but, under American pressure, they had to accept a power-sharing government. Representatives of the Northern Alliance, the followers of the old king (he was thrown out of power about 25 years ago, and has been living in Rome since), the Afghans who went into exile in Pakistan, Iran, and the western world, met in a castle near Bonn, Germany, in December 2001.
After setting aside their old and bitter divisions, they decided to form a government of thirty members -including two women- led by Hamid Karzai who was imposed by the Americans. Karzai is a Pashtun who lived in the USA -where he became a CIA agent- and, consequently, he speaks English and is trusted by the Americans who tell him what to do.
This government took formal power on December 28, 2001, to run the country for six months. During this period the old king will call a council of tribal leaders - loya jirga- to write a constitution, and choose the next government that should remain in power for another two years. It is hoped that by then the country would be stabilised, and that democratic elections could take place.
An international "peace force" of 4 to 5,000 soldiers led by Britain was decided in Bonn to guarantee the security of the new government and of the capital, Kabul, for an initial period of six months.
Already at the beginning of 2002, some difficult negotiations went on to agree on its size, the length of its presence in Afghanistan, and which regions they should control. The old Afghan structure, based on local war chiefs and tribal leaders, wanted to regain control and defends its interests.
In January 2002, at an international donor's conference in Tokyo, Hamid Karzai managed to persuade the participants to pledge more than $4bn to help rebuild Afghanistan.
January 15, 2002, the last President of Afghanistan (from 1992 to 1996), and formal head of the Northern Alliance, the Tajik Rabbani, announced that he wanted to come back to power. In Bonn he had to bow down to Hamid Karzai, chosen by the USA and the United Nations.
But in June, a "loya jirga" presided by the ex-king Zahir Shah would choose new leaders and Rabbani will be a candidate for the top job. He has quite a lot of support at home, but less than Karzai's Pashtun who are the majority in that country. He believes that it is time to let the Afghans run their own country as they see fit. And many Afghan people agree with him, especially the pro-Iran fundamentalists and the former Taliban who do not like the pro-western politics of the new government, as well as those who do not like, by principle, to see foreign troops on their soil.
The Wall Street Journal of January 16, 2002, wrote openly of a disappointing US policy in Afghanistan and said that a more direct intervention is necessary. More and more warlords are beginning to play their old tricks and Afghanistan's neighbours Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Russia, ...) are interfering again in the running of the country. The warlords have acted as proxy for the US ground force against the Taliban and it is their men, and not the Americans, who have suffered huge casualties. Now they want something in exchange and, not only do they refuse to disarm, they want to go on running their part of the country.
President Bush invited the Afghan leader, Hamil Karzai, to Washington for talks, and to be present when he delivered his message on the "State of the Union" to the US Congress on January 29, 2002. Karzai then went to London to talk to Mr Blair. He gave a good impression in both countries. His main requests were for the participation of the US to the peace force, and for an increase in the British participation. Both the US and Britain said NO
At the beginning of 2002 there were tensions between the different fractions, clans, tribes, and warlords inside Afghanistan. This was shown very clearly by the fact that the authority of the provisional government of Hamid Karzai was limited to Kabul. Karzai asked the UN to send more peacekeepers to Afghanistan, the only way to extend the power of the central government, but the main countries - US, Britain, France, Germany- refused. Afghanistan could be heading for another civil war of the type that disrupted the country after the end of the Russian invasion of the 1980's.
Around February 15, 2002, the minister of Transport and Tourism of the Provisory Government of Hamid Karzai was killed at Kabul Airport. First we were told that would-be pilgrims had killed him. They were there to fly to Mecca and were fed up for having been waiting for a plane for two days although they had already paid about $1,750 for the round trip. They believed that the minister had commandeered their plane to go to New Delhi, India. However, a few days later, Hamid Karzai told the international media that some security agents of his old fraction had killed the minister. The same day the British Foreign Minister, Mr Straw, visited Kabul where he saw Hamid Karzai and the British troops. Mr Karzai asked Britain to send more troops to insure security, not only in Kabul but also in other cities, and to stay longer than the four months agreed that will end in April. Mr Straw, in agreement with the US, refused.
In February 2002, a football match took place between an Afghan team and soldiers of the International Peaceful Force. The stadium was soon filled to its maximum capacity and still many people wanted to enter. A riot followed and quite a few people were hurt, if not killed.
A big earthquake hit the northeastern provinces of Afghanistan killing more than 2,000 people, wounding ten thousand, and destroying thousand of houses, or what was left of them after more than 20 years of war. These people were already suffering from hunger due to the war and lack of rain for a few years. Most people in this region were already living from international aid and this did not help them at all. This region was already difficult to reach before the earthquake, and the destruction of the remaining infrastructure complicated the work of the Aid organisations.
At the beginning of April 2002, President Musharraf of Pakistan flew to Kabul for a few hours visit to meet the Afghan's interim leader, Hamid Karzai. This was mainly to try to make the new Afghan leadership forget that Pakistan was backing the Taliban until September 11, 2001. It is well known that the new leadership has strong doubt about Pakistan.
In April 2002, the Pashtun in northern Afghanistan complained that they were brutally treated by ethnic Hazara and Uzbeck soldiers. There were reports of murder, looting, and rapes and that thousand of Pashtun near the city of Mazar-I-Sharif were leaving their homes. But the central government had no power outside Kabul, and even in Kabul things are not too good either. The provisory government claimed these days to have arrested hundred of people preparing a coup to throw out the present authority. True or not, we do not know but it is certain that everything was not going well. Even the old ex-king of Afghanistan had to delay his return to Kabul where he was supposed to help prepare the way to the second phase of the political life of Afghanistan.
Finally the old King of Afghanistan, Mohammed Zahir Shah, 87 years old, went back to Afghanistan in April 2002 after 29 years of exile in Italy. He will convene a traditional assembly of warlords known as a "loya jirga" in June that should select a new government in advance of democratic elections 18 months later.
Once again the Americans chose old discredited leaders to run a country where they overthrew the legal government.
In the meantime normal life is resuming in Kabul, but not in all Afghanistan. The number of cars has increased, and traffic jam is frequent. More and more restaurant, bars, and cinemas are opening everyday, and street vendors are doing good business. One can even see some women around without their traditional "burga".
Unfortunately the new prosperity has brought crime with it. Theft is part of every day's life and it is barely under control in spite of the presence of the ISAF peacekeeping force patrolling the streets in armoured cars. Rents are high and beginning to be out of reach for the normal Afghans, and especially to the refugees coming home to find their houses destroyed by the US bombing. Outside Kabul, however, life is not so good; local warlords are fighting to get their share of the cake, with the result that the population suffers, as bombing and fighting are quite frequent.
At the beginning of June 2002, it seemed very probable that Hamid Karzai, the interim leader of Afghanistan, would be confirmed in power after the meeting of the "loya jirga", the assembly of about 1,500 warlords, foreseen for the middle of June.
Secret meetings between the various fractions involved seem to have reached the decision to reappoint him for the next two years. The Pashtun majority was still fighting to have a better representation in the government but the Tajik, who lead the Northern Alliance, were not ready to give up the Defence and Interior ministries. The former king, Zahir Shah, played a very important role in the negotiations but at his age, 87, he appeared to be frail and out of touch with the reality on the land.
Afghanistan, little by little, was getting back on its feet. As decided during the talks in Bonn in December 2001, a commission was given final authority for determining the procedures and number of participants to an assembly, known as the Loya Jirga (grand tribal council), and to convene it. The Commission chose some 1,500 delegates and it was decided that the assembly would start its work at the beginning of June.
The "loya jirga" opening was delayed to June 10 to try to bring the views of the different fractions closer. Finally the meetings took place in a giant tent flown from Germany, where it is normally used for the beer festivals. Among the 1,500 delegates there are about 200 women. There were precise rules to elect the delegates, but they were not followed everywhere; the politicians and the warlords imposed themselves, and decided everything in advance. Soon the role and the powers to be given to the old king Zahir Shah created some friction.
On the second day of the Loya Jirga, on June 11, 2002, the old king Zahir Shah, under pressure of the USA, formally renounced all political ambitions to help the future of Afghanistan although the majority of the delegates wanted him to be Head of State. Hamid Karzai's allies and the US asked him to back Hamid Karzai for the leadership of the country. He easily agreed given his age, but his family was far from happy with his decision. He will receive the purely honorific title of "Father of the Nation".
As a result Hamid Karzai was more or less certain to be elected leader of Afghanistan for the next 18 months.
On June 13, 2002, Hamid Karzai, with the help of the Americans was elected Head of State of Afghanistan for 18 months when free elections would be held. More than two third of the 1,500 delegates (exactly 1,295) voted for him in a secret ballot. A woman, Ms Massouda Jalal received 171 votes. There were still many problems, like eliminating the warlord power, and this will not be easy. The choice of the main ministers was difficult but very important. Up to now the most important was Zahir Shah from the Northern Alliance (mainly Tajiks) but some new balance of power is necessary. Will the Tajik ministers agree to leave was an open question? A few days later, about two third again of the delegates left the meeting. They were fed up because the election of the ministers was taking more time that foreseen due to the haggling between the different landlords. Hamid Karzai decided that he would personally choose his ministers.
What was really urgent was to obtain enough international financial and political aid. The western governments promised quite a lot of cash but very little has reached Afghanistan until now.
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