A new generation of young leaders has been ushered into Afghanistan after UN-sponsored talks in Bonn to est ablish an interim administration for the country.

Hamid Karzai, a prominent Pashtun leader and former deputy Afghan foreign minister, has been confirmed as the leader of the new administration.

Three moderate Northern Alliance leaders - Abdullah Abdullah, the foreign minister, Yunus Qanuni, the interior minister, and Mohammed Fahim, the group's troop commander - all stand a strong chance of retaining their positions in the interim governments.

Abdul Sattar Sirat, who heads the Rome Group delegation sent to Bonn by supporters of Mohammad Zahir Shah, is also expected to play a key role in the new administration.

Abdullah Abdullah

The Northern Alliance's foreign minister, a medical doctor Abdullah Abdullah was close friends with Ahmed Shah Masood, the commander of the Northern Alliance who was assassinated in September, days before the terrorist attacks in the US.

In 1999 Dr Abdullah became the Northern Alliance's deputy foreign minister but quickly rose to the main foreign affairs post.

Dr Abdullah comes from the Tajik Panjshir valley, but his mother is Pashtun. He speaks fluent English and French.

Mohammad Fahim

The Northern Alliance's military commander, Mr Fahim was a longtime lieutenant to Ahmed Shah Masood, the commander of the Northern Alliance who was assassinated in September, days before the terrorist attacks in the US.

As Mr Masood's deputy and chief of intelligence, Mr Fahim became the Northern Alliance's military chief just two days before the attacks.

He went to Pakistan as a refugee after the 1978 communist coup but returned to fight with the Mujahideen. In the 1980s war he worked alongside Mr Masood commanding troops in central Afghanistan.

Yunus Qanuni

Mr Qanuni, who became the Northern Alliance's interior minister after it captured Kabul, is leading the alliance's delegation at Bonn.

He renamed the alliance the "United Front" for the talks in a bid to make it seem more national.

An ethnic Tajik, Mr Qanuni joined Mr Masood's forces when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979 and was appointed spokesman of the Mujahideen council that Mr Masood created in the late 1980s.

Mr Qanuni is widely respected within the Northern Alliance, and was chosen to speak at Mr Masood's funeral in September.

Abdul Sattar Sirat

Abdul Sattar Sirat heads the Rome Group delegation sent to Bonn by supporters of Mohammad Zahir Shah, the former Afghan king.

An ethhic Uzbek and expert in Islamic studies, he was justice minister in Afghanistan before the king was deposed in 1973. He has been one of his advisers since the king was exiled in Rome.

He became one of the favourites after both the Rome Group and the Northern Alliance, the two largest factions at the UN-sponsored talks, proposed him to head the interim Afghan administration.