ISLAMABAD, Nov 23: Hamid Karazai, former foreign minister of Afghanistan with royal family links and a respected Pakhtoon leader, is likely to get an important position in the transitional government that is expected to emerge following the UN-sponsored Bonn conference of all Afghan factions scheduled to be held on Monday.

Informed circles did not rule out the possibility of Mr Karazai getting the prime ministerial slot with the former King, Zahir Shah, functioning as a symbolic figure head of the state.

These circles said Pakistan, which has no objection to Zahir Shah playing a role in keeping the unity of Afghanistan intact with his presence in the country, would be more than satisfied if Karazai was made the chief executive in the transitional government.

Pakistan, these circles said, was likely to send two high-level officials including one from the foreign office to Bonn to attend the conference as interested observers.

According to these circles, Islamabad was at first very much upset with the arrival of Northern Alliance troops in Kabul but later dismissed the unsavoury development as a tactical reverse because the world, Islamabad realized, was still pursuing the final objective of getting a broad-based, multi-ethnic government formed in Kabul.

Afghan watchers in Islamabad said that the Northern Alliance troops were encouraged by Iran in its own self interest to take over Kabul after Taliban vacated the city.

Pakistan was also worried in the beginning at the absence of any known Pakhtoon face who would be able to bring all the Pakhtoon factions together and enable them to speak with one voice.

The Uzbeks were being led by Commander Rashid Dostum, Tajiks by Commander Fahim, the Hazaras by Commander Khalili, Commander Ismail was in control of Herat, and there were a number of strongholds in the North which were being led by pro-Rabbani commanders.

However, as soon as the war in Afghanistan entered into its decisive phase a number of Pakhtoon leaders with known faces also came into the picture. These included Maulvi Qadeer and Deen Mohammad, both brothers of Commander Haq who was killed by the Taliban very early in the war. Younis Khalis and Commander Wardek were also considered to be high-profile Pakhtoon leaders with significant following.

Prof Abur Rab Rasul Sayyaf and Gulbadin Hikmatyar too are expected to take a position along with the Pakhtoon majority.

However, informed circles here identified Hamid Karazai as the man who would finally end up representing the Pakhtoons as well as the country itself which it is believed is likely to emerge as a loose federation administered by the jirga system both at the local as well as at the federal level.

Pakistan is said to be continuing its efforts to get Kabul demilitarized and get the UN to cobble up a multinational force made up of troops from Turkey, Malaysia, Indonesia and Bangladesh.

Pakistan is also said to be keenly watching what India, Russia and Iran are doing in order to influence the developments in Afghanistan in their favour.

However, Islamabad seems to have persuaded itself into accepting the theory that Russia and US were still engaged in an international war of influence peddling, therefore, it believes that with the US visibly on the side of Pakistan, there was not much the Russian and Indian nexus could do to harm Pakistan’s interests.

Meanwhile, Pakistan is said to have requested the world community to get those trapped in Kunduz to surrender to some authority other than the Northern Alliance and then facilitate the transfer of these persons to Tajikistan.