Moves to assemble an internationally backed government in Kabul are gathering pace, as the Prime Minister-designate, Mr Hamid Karzai met the former president, Mr Burhanuddin Rabbani and other leaders in the presidential palace yesterday.
The visit was seen as part of fence-building with Northern Alliance members, many of whom were his foes in the past.
Mr Karzai continued to evade reporters while meeting with key Northern Alliance leaders.
In a move clearly fashioned as an image boost, Mr Karzai and his entourage travelled for three hours by car to visit the grave of assassinated Northern Alliance leader Ahmed Massoud in the Panshir Valley. Mr Karzai then paid a visit to Mr Massoud's family.
Word of the trip was leaked to reporters with admonishment that no interviews would be possible but that photo opportunities would be available.
Mr Karzai and his 29 member interim government are set to convene on December 22nd. A number of controversial issues, including the size and composition of a multinational peacekeeping force, remain to be worked out with the various factions now controlling different areas of this country.
In their most ambitious operation since they landed in Afghanistan on November 25th, US Marines launched a land and helicopter-borne force on the Kandahar airport from their Camp Rhino base south of the city and from the carrier USS Bataan in the Arabian Sea.
Some 200 Marines, accompanied by Australian SAS commandos, gathered at staging areas to the north before moving to the airport in a 40-vehicle convoy through the streets of Kandahar, guided by US special forces, an officer said.
The Marines said they found six booby traps in one outfield building and said a C-130 transport plane could land as early as yesterday evening.
Brig Gen James Mattis, commander of the task force, said they moved in with the approval of Mr Karzai.
"We are here to help the Afghan people. We would not be here if Mr Karzai had not asked us," he told AFP.
The Marines are tasked with clearing the airport of mines and booby traps as well as any al-Qaeda or Taliban fighters who may still be hiding in culverts near the runway.
The goal is to secure the airport not only for military flights but also for eventual deliveries of international humanitarian aid as well as for resuming commercial flights. But officers declined to say whether this marks a new phase in the US campaign.
"I cannot tell you about future operations," said Capt David Romley, a Marines spokesman.
In Belgium, the 15 European Union countries agreed at a summit that they would take part in a UN-mandated, British-led international force in Afghanistan.
(additional reporting Reuters)
EU talks on European peacekeeping force for Afghanistan: page 6