Afghanistan: UN envoy in touch with interim leaders to control fighting in north

Seeking to help foster stability in Afghanistan, the senior United Nations envoy in the country is conducting talks with Interim Administration Chairman Hamid Karzai and other Afghan leaders to bring the fighting in the north under control, a UN spokesman reported today.

Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, who held talks with Chairman Karzai and Interior Minister Qanoni on Tuesday, today discussed the fighting with Afghanistan's Defence Minister. All three Afghan officials said they would do all possible to bring the situation under control, according to the spokesman.

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) reported tensions in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif and fighting in two areas nearby: the Sholgarah district and Sari Pul. UNAMA personnel on the ground are in frequent contact with the parties concerned - mainly leaders of Jamiat, Jumbish and Hizb-e-Wahdat - at the regional and national level.