AFGHANISTAN - Oct. 22 - Coalition Divided Over Future Role Of Taliban.

Visiting Tadjikistan, Russian Pres. Putin says: "We consider the position of the Islamic State of Afghanistan that excludes the Taliban movement from a future Afghan government to be well-founded". (His comments follow impromptu overnight meetings in Dushanbe with the Tadjik Pres. Emomali Rakhmonov and the head of the anti-Taliban Islamic State of Afghanistan Burhanuddin Rabbani). Putin's move represents disagreements among the international coalition over the shape of post-Taliban Afghanistan. Moscow's position, supported by Tehran and some of the ex-Soviet Central Asian states, is in opposition to that of Pakistan, which is desperately trying to persuade moderate Taliban leaders to break from their extremist leader Mullah Omar and join a more broadly based administration. In recent days, US and UK officials have said they would also be prepared to accept moderate Taliban leaders in a future coalition government, given they represent the Pashtun tribes that form the most populous ethnic group in Afghanistan. US State Department deputy spokesman Philip Reeker says Putin and Pres. Bush "confirmed their solidarity in fighting terrorism". But he adds: "We favour no Afghan faction, and peace and stability can only be established for Afghanistan through the formation of a broad-based government". Officials from Iran and the Northern Alliance have expressed their doubts over attempts to draw a distinction between "moderate" Taliban with which it is possible to deal in the future, and more extremist elements. They say this is an artificial distinction created by Pakistan. An unidentified Pakistani official said Islamabad's position was "misunderstood" by other countries. "The Taliban control 90% of Afghanistan and not all of them support the hardline policies of Mullah Omar. The only way to avoid a bloodbath is to encourage the conciliatory elements to join a new government, so that there's a rift within the Taliban that helps with their collapse". Analysts say Pakistan's position may change in the coming days so long as officials are convinced that the Pashtun population would be fully represented. Some analysts say Pakistan's concern is partly driven by the fear that once defeated squarely in Afghanistan, many of the Taliban might cross into Pakistan, perhaps to join agitation against the government of Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who has confronted the country's Islamic lobby by supporting the US military attacks. However, some Russian officials have indicated they would like to see a proportionate Pashtun representation in a future Afghan government, pointing the way for a possible compromise with Pakistan. The head of the Duma's foreign affairs committee Dmitry Rogozin said any future Afghan government should include "authoritative leaders among the Pashtuns who would distance themselves from Taliban extremism". He said Gen. Musharraf was forced to support the idea of dialogue with moderate Taliban to create room for political manoeuvre, while the softer US line towards the Taliban was the result of a certain "simplified notion of what Afghanistan is" compared with Moscow's experience in the region.