32 Afghan Delegates to Attend Bonn Summit

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, November 27, 2001

32 Afghan Delegates to Attend Bonn Summit

Some 32 Afghan delegates representing a variety of ethnic and political groups will be participating in the proceedings of UN-sponsored conference on Tuesday in Petersberg, near Bonn, Germany.

Some 32 Afghan delegates representing a variety of ethnic and political groups will be participating in the proceedings of UN-sponsored conference on Tuesday in Petersberg, near Bonn, Germany.

Addressing a press briefing, UN Information Centre Director Eric Falt said that there would be 32 delegates in the room, with 11 for the Northern Alliance, 11 for representatives of the Rome process, and five each for the Cyprus Process and the Peshawar Movement.

About the duration of the talks, Eric said: "We do not know how long the talks will last. They could last one day, three days or 10 days. It all depends on what progress is achieved. That's really all I can say for now, with more expected from Bonn in the course of the day."

About the detail of Tuesday's programme, he said that there would be a preliminary session to which the media would be invited. "After the opening session, there will be no access to the Petersberg Conference Centre, because the UN and the Afghans would like to keep this meeting as focused and secluded as possible," the UN spokesman explained.

Eric, who just arrived from Kabul on Monday, said that Afghan delegations from Afghanistan and abroad had also been arriving in Bonn. The UN avoided releasing any specific names and more details, saying they would not be made public until "we are sure that the lists are complete and accurate".

Meanwhile, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan Lakhdar Brahimi on Sunday arrived in Petersberg. His deputy Francesc Vendrell is also there along with a UN team from New York.

Afghan conference: how it is intended to work

The conference is scheduled to open at 10:00 am (0900 GMT) with an inaugural session at which the United Nations, which is sponsoring the gathering, has asked German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer to speak for the host government. Another 18 countries which have asked to be present as observers, plus the European Union, will have diplomats present at the opening, although only the delegates and UN officials will be present for the discussions themselves. The UN is represented by the Algerian former ddiplomat Lakhdar Brahimi, the special representative of Secretary General Kofi Annan. After opening speeches, the conference will adjourn for a few minutes to allow journalists to leave the Petersberg hotel where the conference is being held, and then go into a plenary session. After that session, the delegates will return to their four groups and the negotiations will formally begin in absolute privacy. Brahimi and his deputy, Francesc Vendrell, from Spain, will shuttle between the groups to try to find agreement. Once a consensus is reached, the delegates will then hold a new plenary session. No time limit has been set for the duration of the talks, but UN officials have made it clear that they want things to move to a conclusion rapidly. "Time is of the essence," Brahimi's spokesman Ahmad Fawzi said Monday. The talks will have two goals: to agree on the composition and duration of an interim government and on the wider issue of security, likely to be the task of a multinational force. That stage would pave the way for a Loya Jirga, or traditional grand assembly of elders, which would eventually take further major decisions, such as the shape of a new constitution.

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