Northern Alliance to keep troops in Kabul
Monday December 10, 5:17 PM  AFP
The Northern Alliance will keep troops in Kabul even after the deployment of an international security force, top defence ministry spokesman Mohammad Habeel told AFP.

"Of course some of the units of the Northern Alliance will be in Kabul. (Defence Minister) General Fahim is a member of the government and of course his forces will remain here," Habeel said.

Habeel also said the UN-mandated security force will not be allowed to patrol the city.

The international peacekeepers "can only patrol places where the new government will meet. It was agreed that our own forces will keep security in Kabul," he said.

Under the inter-Afghan accord struck in Bonn last week, a UN-mandated international security force is to be deployed in Kabul and its surroundings before spreading progressively to other centres.

The agreement also stipulates the demilitarisation of Kabul, making clear that Afghan forces are to withdraw all military units from the capital and other areas where the multinational force is deployed.

"The participants of the UN Talks on Afghanistan pledge to withdraw all military units from Kabul and other urban centres or other areas in which the UN mandated force is deployed," an annexe to the accord says.