Several thousand supporters of Afghanistan’s former king, whose homecoming has been delayed by officials citing security concerns, marched through Kandahar today, calling for his speedy return from exile.

Afghan king Mohammad Zaher Shah’s trip home was delayed after US President George Bush phoned Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi to tell him about threats to the exiled king, a top official said in Rome today.

Suspected al Qaida and Taliban fighters planned to kill British and other peacekeepers by setting off car bombs in Afghanistan’s capital, authorities have said.

Afghanistan's exiled king has been quoted as describing the US-led war on terror as "stupid and useless" and calling for its immediate end.

Afghanistan's interim administration will include one woman, says the Northern Alliance.

Four Afghan factions have agreed on a framework for a post-Taliban administration.

The United Nations presented a draft deal on Afghanistan’s political future today, outlining terms for the Northern Alliance to transfer power as part of intense international efforts to secure peace and stability in the war-torn country.

Talks on Afghanistan’s political future moved into a decisive phase today, with pressure building on the Northern Alliance to agree to an interim administration.

The Northern Alliance is facing international pressure to break a deadlock in talks on Afghanistan's political future by coming up with names of people it wants in an interim administration.

The Northern Alliance will not oppose an international security force to ensure peace during an interim administration.

The Northern Alliance says no outside military force is needed to secure the country because its own fighters are providing enough security.

Afghans welcomed talks aimed at forming a broad-based, interim government today, and expressed overwhelming support for the exiled king as a leader the nation could unite behind.

Her face hid from view, Tahmeena Faryal told the United Nations that in the eyes of Afghan women, the Taliban and the Northern Alliance ‘‘have outdone each other’’ in committing massacres and violating women’s rights.

Pakistan’s president, General Pervez Musharraf, today called for a UN peacekeeping mission made up of Muslim nations to deploy in Kabul and said Turkey and Pakistan could contribute.

France and Britain are drafting a United Nations Security Council resolution to hasten the process of setting up a government to replace the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, French president Jacques Chirac said.

US warplanes resumed bombing early today on several Taliban positions in an effort to clear the way for advances by forces opposed to Afghanistan’s ruling movement.

Taliban leaders threw the hanged corpse of an Afghan opposition leader into a hasty grave in Taliban territory today, leaving Afghanistan’s opposition in exile to mourn - and vow revenge - without him.

Pakistan has urged the United States to hold back its attack on frontline Taliban forces to prevent Afghanistan’s opposition northern alliance from storming into the capital.

Afghanistan’s former king said last night he recognised the ‘‘legitimate right’’ of the United States to pursue those responsible for the terrorist attacks but urged that innocents be spared in the strikes on his homeland.