War-ravaged Afghanistan has a new leader and interim government following the signing of a landmark agreement at the United Nations-sponsored talks in Bonn, Germany this week.

Led by by Hamid Karzai, a popular Pashtun tribal chief backed by the US, the new government will comprise members of the Northern Alliance, one faction of which currently controls Kabul; supporters of Mohammad Zahir Shah, the exiled former king who still commands considerable support; Afghan emigres who participated in the previous Cyprus peace process; and ethnic Pashtun leaders based in Peshawar, in north-west Pakistan.

The new government will establish itself in Kabul once the city has been secured by a multilateral force, which will not be under UN command.

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