[Martin Savidge, Cnn Anchor:] Political observers say that Haq's death is a serious blow to the efforts to replace the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. CNN State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel reports.
[Andrea Koppel, Cnn State Department Correspondent:] U.S. officials readily admit exiled Afghan commander Abdul Haq has been an important player in the ever-evolving U.S. strategy to help build a broad-based post-Taliban government in Afghanistan. A leading commander of anti-Soviet Mujahideen in the 1980s, Haq made no secret of his desire to rally Afghans to rise up against the Taliban. And so when the Bush administration first heard reports Haq had been captured and killed by the Taliban, the reaction was one of concern.
[Ari Fleischer, White House Press Secretary:] It would be a loss for those who believe in that effort, for those who believe in a broad-based government for Afghanistan.
[Koppel:] The Taliban claims it captured Haq near Kabul, the Afghan capital. At the same time, near Kandahar, another exiled anti- Taliban leader, Hamid Karzai, is believed to be on a similar mission to undermine the Taliban. Karzai, like Haq, is a prominent member of the Pashtun, the dominant ethnic group in Afghanistan, comprising 40 percent of the population. The challenge for the Bush administration and others opposed to the Taliban, to convince not only the Pashtun, whose exiled king has become a rallying force, but also Afghanistan's many other ethnic groups and tribes to support a new government to replace the Taliban. They include the Tajiks, the Baluch, Imach, and Hazara ethnic groups, as well as the Turkmen and Uzbeks, each with its own agenda.
[Richard Boucher, State Department Spokesman:] We need Afghans who will occupy territory and drive out or kill al-Qaeda. If we can't find Afghans like that, then we've got to do it ourselves on the ground, and that would be a terrible business, you know, lasting a very long time.
[Koppel:] Further complicating matters, Afghanistan's neighbors, in particular Pakistan, Iran, Russia, and India, support different ethnic groups. In recent days, President Bush and Secretary of State Powell have tried to move everyone to the same page.
[Anatol Levin, Carnegie Endowment For Peace:] It's a great game for very small stakes, actually, or at least it was until the 11th of September, which was raised the stakes enormously. It's pathetic, in a way. I mean, Afghanistan is one of the poorest societies on earth.
[Koppel:] With so many competing interests, replacing the Taliban won't be easy. Said one senior State Department official, "We don't have a secret as to how to get the Afghans organized. There is no favorite son." In other words, this is a work in progress. Andrea Koppel, CNN, at the State Department.