KOENIGSWINTER, Germany (AP) - Four Afghan factions began talks Tuesday on how to share power once the Taliban are defeated, with a U.S. official saying all sides favored giving Afghanistan's former king a role as a unifying figure.
Delegations representing the northern alliance, exiles backing the ex-king and two smaller exile groups all pledged to seek a power-sharing formula as they began talks under strong international pressure to end more than two decades of war.
While the Afghans are meeting, the United States, Russia and neighbors such as Pakistan and Iran are exerting heavy influence from the corridors. Regional stability and billions in development aid are at stake.
``The atmospherics for the opening session were remarkably good,'' said James F. Dobbins, the U.S. government's Central Asia envoy. ``The prospects of us making some progress are pretty good.''
Dobbins said detailed discussions were only beginning, but he suggested the factions could agree to establish former king Mohammad Zaher Shah - who has lived in exile in Italy since his 1973 ouster - as uniting figure.
``Everybody sees the ex-king as a rallying point and hopes that he will be ready and able to play that role,'' he said.
Zaher Shah is a Pashtun, the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan, estimated at between 40 and 55 percent of the population. The Pashtuns - whose participation is seen as key in any government - have no separate delegation at the talks, though there are Pashtun representatives in each of the groups.
The northern alliance, made up mainly of members of the Tajik and Uzbek ethnic minorities, holds a strong hand entering the conference, since its fighters now control around half the country and hold the capital, Kabul.
During their first closed session, the delegates agreed that their goal was to establish an interim administration that would be followed by the convening of a national assembly of tribal leaders, or a loya jirga, possibly by the Afghan New Year, in March, U.N. spokesman Ahmad Fawzi told reporters.
The assembly would then approve another transitional administration that would govern for up to two years. After that would be a second loya jirga, which would approve a constitution that will guarantee rights for all Afghans, women included, and a goal of elections, Fawzi said.
The leaders also agreed to try and reach a consensus in three to five days, he said.
In a strong Pashtun endorsement, Pashtun leader Hamid Karzai telephoned the conference room from Afghanistan.
Fawzi read excerpts from the call: ``We have been made extremely poor and vulnerable but we are a strong people who would like to assert our will and a sense of self-determination,'' he said. ``This meeting is the path toward salvation.''
Due to rapid developments on the battlefield, key warlords - including Karzai - stayed