Military

DATE=11/18/01

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=AFGHAN MEETING (L)

NUMBER=2-283292

BYLINE=JON TKACH

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

INTERNET=

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Afghanistan's opposition northern alliance has agreed to take part in talks aimed at forming a post-Taleban government. As V-O-A's Jon Tkach reports, alliance officials have dropped their demands that the meeting take place in Kabul.

TEXT: A main spokesman for the Northern Alliance, Haron Amin - appearing on a C-B-S television's Face the Nation - says his group will take part in upcoming power-sharing talks.

/// AMIN ACT ///

Our delegation should be heading soon into Europe. It seems it might be Germany that will be hosting the mediation soon.

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Mr. Amin reaffirmed his group's commitment to forming a broad-based government in Afghanistan, saying it should include the participation of women and Pashtuns, the main ethnic group of the Taleban. But he rules out any role for the Taleban.

/// AMIN ACT ///

The important thing here is the people of Afghanistan. They have been so badly brutalized by the Taleban that there is no room for the Taleban in Afghanistan.

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Appearing on "Fox News Sunday," Secretary of State Colin Powell welcomed the Northern Alliance decision to take part in the talks.

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The hold-up had been the Northern Alliance and with this announcement today we should be able to move forward quickly.

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He says he hopes they take place within days - not weeks.

The United Nations has been pressing for a neutral site for the talks. It wants to underscore a commitment to forming a broad-based government that will include Afghanistan's many tribes and ethnic groups. (SIGNED)

NEB/JT/RAE