The United Nations must move quickly to help set up a representative government in Afghanistan, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said.
Speaking to reporters after top-level talks with countries most involved in the Afghan crisis, Mr Annan said his special envoy, Mr Lakhdar Brahimi, would "step up his work consulting the Afghan parties."
But Mr Brahimi acknowledged the UN had no control over the opposition forces which have swept across northern Afghanistan with extraordinary speed since they captured the city of Mazar-e-Sharif on Friday.
Today’s talks included US Secretary of State Colin Powell, Russian Foreign Minister Mr Igor Ivanov, and their counterparts from the six countries bordering on Afghanistan.
Mr Annan said the meeting had "assessed the fast-evolving situation and talked about the humanitarian, the political and the need to form a broad-based Afghan government."
He said Mr Brahimi briefed the foreign ministers on his recent 10-day visit to the region saying progress had been made that discussions with Afghan parties are going to "accelerate". He said he expected further talks within days.
Mr Annan said the foreign ministers "stressed the need for speed, and that as events are moving very fast we need to try to bring the political aspects in line with military developments on the ground."
In addition to Mr Powell and Mr Ivanov, the so-called "six-plus-two group" includes the foreign ministers of Iran and Pakistan, China and three former Soviet republics in Central Asia: Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
AFP