ABSTRACT
Political settlements are often aimed at providing a framework for ending hostilities among opposing elites and at ensuring the post-conflict containment of failed states and their disorderly elites. 1 With these aims in mind, on 5 December 2001, the international community as well as the four main Afghan political elite groups concluded an agreement in Bonn, Germany, on provincial arrangements in Afghanistan pending the re-establishment of permanent government institutions. The first of these groups was the Northern Alliance (NA, Ettihad-e-Shamal) Jihadis, a loose coalition of several factions who had fought one another during the civil war of 1992–1996 but then formed a coalition against the Taliban. Among them, the most dominant faction was Jamiat Tanzim which in turn was dominated by its military wing, the Panjsheris of Shura-yi Nezar. Secondly, the Rome group was selected to balance and represent Western interests and was associated with King Zahir. Thirdly, the Peshawar group was linked to Gilani, the former seven Sunni Mujahedeen groups in Pakistan. The final group—known as the Cyprus group—was associated with Humayoun Jareer in Iran. The NA were included as the defeaters of the Taliban, while the two smaller groups were arguably selected to please Afghanistan's neighbours, in particular Iran and Pakistan.
