WASHINGTON, Nov 13: Top US officials pondered the fallout from an unexpected and controversial turn of events early today, after advance troops of the Northern Alliance began entering Kabul, despite admonishments from US President George W. Bush, officials said.

Coming only three days after Bush specifically urged Afghan opposition forces to stay away from the capital, the development appeared to present the US administration with a potential diplomatic quandary as it tries to put together a broad post-Taliban government for the war-torn country.

With Northern Alliance soldiers on the streets of Kabul, the White House and the Defence Department offered only brief comments, while the State Department offered no reaction at all.

"We've seen reports, we are evaluating the reports, and at the moment the situation on the ground is very fluid," White House spokeswoman Jeanie Mamo told AFP.

She declined to say whether President Bush was upset by the events or whether the alliance's stated decision to keep the bulk of its force outside the capital was acceptable.

The fluidity of the situation around Kabul was also underscored by the Defence Department, which refused even to confirm that elements of the Northern Alliance were inside the city.

"We cannot confirm that at the moment," said Pentagon spokesman Major Tim Blair.

He added no substantive comments would be made until developments on the ground were clarified.

Between 50 or 60 soldiers of the Northern Alliance, armed with Kalashnikov rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers were initially seen entering the city from the north in jeeps and light trucks.

But as these patrols moved into position inside Kabul, a senior Northern Alliance commander clarified that his main military units were being held back.

"We have not allowed our Mujahedin to enter the city. We have only sent police forces," commander Gul Haider explained.

However, AFP journalists witnessed up to 1,000 soldiers, police and National Guard flooding into the city several hours later once a key checkpoint had been opened.

A Pentagon spokesman admitted the fast-developing situation presented those involved in Afghanistan with"some diplomatic questions that have to be addressed."

Blair said the US military and the opposition Northern Alliance in Afghanistan were not as closely coordinated as it might appear.

"We are not tracking them place by place or city by city," Blair said."We are an adviser, but we are not necessarily giving them the goals they have to achieve."

The chief US concern is possible reaction from Pakistan, which has been adamantly opposed to the Northern Alliance controlling Kabul and has persuaded the Bush administration to adopt a similar stance.

After meeting with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf in New York on Saturday, Bush said he would"encourage our (Afghan) friends to head south... but not into the city of Kabul itself."

Pakistani officials are concerned the Northern Alliance includes primarily representatives of the Tajik, Uzbek and Hazara minorities, but few Pashtuns that live in southern Afghanistan, along the Pakistani border.

They believe a government based on the Northern Alliance, which maintains close ties with Russia, Iran and India, could be unfriendly to Pakistan, according to diplomats here.

Explaining the US position, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in a television interview Sunday that Pakistan and other parties believed"the situation in Kabul ought to reflect what is ultimately going to be needed in Afghanistan, namely a broadly based government."

But he made clear a final decision would ultimately rest with those who fight on the ground.

"We don't have enough forces in the ground to stand in their way," Rumsfeld pointed out."I mean, they're going to make the decision."- AFP



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