PRESS ENCOUNTER WITH LAKHDAR BRAHIMI,
SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR AFGHANISTAN,
FOLLOWING HIS BRIEFING TO THE SECURITY COUNCIL ON AFGHANISTAN

New York, 20 November 2001

Q: Who's coming, Mr. Brahimi?

LB: You, I presume.

Q: Do you have any announcement for us?

LB: Well, I just wanted to confirm the announcement made by Francesc Vendrell in Kabul, and that is that we hope we have an agreement now for a meeting of the four processes with whom, we said all along, that we were going to get to meet. The participants are going to gather over the weekend and the meeting will start hopefully on Monday. We are rather encouraged by what we've heard from the various parties, and we hope that this will be the beginning we've been looking for to end the conflict in Afghanistan and start building new institutions for the country, for the Afghans, of course, to do that themselves with support from the United Nations.

Q: Mr. Brahimi, I assume, by the way, that this is going to be in Berlin. Is that correct?

LB: Yes, Berlin or somewhere nearby.

Q: Are you concerned that the Northern Alliance has said that they view this meeting as symbolic rather than substantive?

LB: That's not what they told us.

Q: Mr. Brahimi, do you believe the proportions of each process that's coming, is it going to be equal proportions?

LB: No. Remember what we have said is that there are four processes working in parallel, each one claiming to be fully representative of the whole of Afghanistan. We have convinced them that they should get together and form one single process. In accordance with the ideas which I have put in the document which I submitted to the Security Council, and again I stress that these were ideas that have been widely discussed by Afghans, we think that there is a real consensus amongst all Afghans that what you need is a large council, a small authority to run the country on a provisional basis that would end in a Loya Jirga to give legitimacy to the process, and start the process of preparing a new constitution that will be adopted by a second Loya Jurga. Now, because of the fast developing situation on the ground, what we are already suggesting, and indeed what participants also are, I think, telling us, is that let's try and go straight to the small authority that is going to run, that is going to Kabul and be the provisional authority - the provisional administration of Afghanistan. And then go to the other steps - the council, the Loya Jirga, etc. So I very, very much hope that out of this meeting, which is not hopefully only symbolic, we will take some concrete decisions and steps in the direction I've just indicated.

Q: Mr. Brahimi, will there be a state participation in this meeting?

LB: I beg your pardon?

Q: Will there be state participation in this meeting?

LB: No, no.

Q: Can you just clarify this provisional council? Last week you were talking about a provisional help, and then a transitional administration. Is that either or, or is it …

LB: No, no, no. It's both. It's only the order that we hope to inverse because of the situation in the ground that Kabul is now open and that the Northern Alliance themselves are saying that they want a more representative body to govern, that perhaps we can go straight to that ….

Q: [Inaudible] transitional administration.

LB: Yeah, yeah.

Q: [Inaudible] security arrangements for Kabul and for the rest of the country?

LB: Yes, we will be talking about that, too, yes.

Q: Will a multinational force be on the agenda?

LB: I don't know at all. We will be discussing that, but I don't know what ….

Q: Mr. Brahimi, for people who don't know the groups in Afghanistan, could you describe these four different processes, these four kinds of representatives that will be at this meeting?

LB: One is the Northern Alliance, which is composed of several parties or organizations that have been united in facing or in fighting the Taliban. The Rome process has been built around the King. The Peshawar group is the result of a convention that has taken place in Peshawar a few weeks ago. And the Cyprus group is a group of people from both refugees inside Afghanistan and the diaspora who have also been trying to work on a solution.

Q: [Inaudible] the people in the transitional administration?

LB: I don't really know. I don't really know at this stage.

Q: How many people do you expect to service?

LB: I hope less than 30.

Q: How about a representative of the Pashtun people?

LB: As I told you, there will definitely be Pashtuns, but there are no proportions at this stage. The proportions will be discussed for after, not going into the meeting.

Q: Have all of the representatives been chosen, or you don't know yet?

LB: The groups are choosing their representatives.

Q: Will you deal with the Northern Alliance as a single entity?

LB: No. No. They are different members and they are coming. Although they still call themselves "Northern Alliance," they are identifiable and identified "on the ground" members.

Q: How about Kunduz?

LB: Yes. On Kunduz, I think you are aware that last night we've been formally approached, whereas until now there were statements or I think we read it on what you people write, that there was an appeal to the UN. But yesterday two people - a religious leader and somebody else in Islamabad - formally approached us saying that commanders from inside Kunduz - Taliban commanders - wanted to surrender unconditionally and wanted to do it to the United Nations. The Secretary-General has been in touch with the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross), of course we've been in touch very closely with the Northern Alliance, and the Secretary-General has been also in contact with members of the international coalition. It is evident that the United Nations cannot, has no means, is not present on the ground, and simply cannot, unfortunately, accede to this request. So what we've been telling the Northern Alliance again this morning, the Secretary-General has asked Francesc Vendrell to once again ask the Northern Alliance to respect their obligations under international humanitarian law and treat this question with as much humanity as possible. We have also been discussing with all these parties, and I think the Secretary-General continues to make his appeals, not only about Kunduz, but about elsewhere, everywhere else, that the international humanitarian law and human rights be respected. That's all I think I have for the moment.

Thank you very much.