Calm returned to Kandahar yesterday after a stand-off between rival factions that threatened to return the province to pre-Taliban chaos was resolved peacefully.
Afghanistan's new interim leader, Mr Hamid Karzai, said he had brokered successful talks yesterday morning in Kandahar between Mullah Naqibullah, to whom the Taliban had surrendered the city, and Gul Agha, a former governor.
"It was agreed that Gul Agha will be in charge of security and the administration of Kandahar. He will continue his mandate until the nomination of a real administration in Afghanistan," said Mr Karzai, speaking by telephone.
Mr Karzai, the head of a UN-endorsed interim government due to take control of Afghanistan later this month, said that Mullah Naqibullah had "himself suggested", given his own age, that Agha take over control of the former Taliban bastion.
"He [Naqibullah] will obey him and help him if there is a need," the royalist Pashtun chief added.
The meeting, gathering local elders, commanders and other influential figures in the region, took place at the former residence of the Taliban leader, Mullah Muhammad Omar.
Fighting broke out between forces loyal to the two men after Mr Karzai brokered a deal late last week to ensure a handover of the Taliban's headquarters to former mujahedeen commander Mullah Naqibullah.
Some shops were open yesterday, but most remained closed. Gunfire could be heard during the day but the bombing of the city by US jets seemed to have halted, although warplanes could still be heard flying at night. A CNN reporter in Kandahar reported that a group of US Special Forces troops had been seen in the city.