Negotiators make gains in forming government

KOENIGSWINTER, Germany -- Four Afghan factions negotiating the country's political future continued to inch toward an agreement after representatives of the Northern Alliance appeared to break a deadlock over nominating members to a new interim government.

Meeting near Bonn under the auspices of the United Nations, the delegates are trying to establish an interim council of 15-25 members that will attempt to govern the lawless and fragmented country until a traditional council, or loya jirga, can convene next year. The loya jirga will create a transitional government to rule Afghanistan for two years in advance of national elections and the writing of a constitution.

U.N. proposals to create a parallel, larger supreme council appear to have been abandoned, delegates and international observers said. Balancing ethnic, geographic and religious interests in a larger body seemed to prove too difficult in a relatively short negotiation.

Delegates, however, are moving closer to agreement on the deployment of international peacekeepers to Afghanistan and they are discussing some immediate role for the aging former King, Mohammed Zahir Shah, international observers said. An accord may still be some days away as the delegates are still debating the structure of the new authority.

The Northern Alliance foreign minister, Abdullah, said Saturday in Kabul that "significant progress" was being made at talks in Germany.

"I'm optimistic about an early result, very soon," Abdullah told a news conference. "We are ready to transfer power to a transitional authority."

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