AFGHAN LEADERS SIGN UN BROKERED DEAL IN KOENIGSWINTER, 2001-12-05 (photo)

Afghan leaders L-R Houmayoun Jareer of the Cyprus delegation, Abdul Sirat of the Rome delegation, Yunis Qanuni of the Northern Alliance delegation and Sayed Hamed Gailani of the Peshawar group sign an U.N. brokered Afghanistan deal under the eyes of (rear) R-L: German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, US Afghanistan envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and UN deputy Afghanistan envoy Francesc Vendrell at the German government guesthouse Petersberg in Koenigswinter near Bonn December 5, 2001. Afghan rivals struck a landmark accord on Wednesday to set aside two decades of war and form a post-Taliban government led by Pashtun chief Hamid Karzai to steer their shattered nation towards democracy. The U.N. brokered deal, reached before dawn on the ninth day of gruelling talks, creates a government with 30 members reflecting Afghanistan's ethnic diversity to rule for about six months until a Loya Jirga, or traditional assembly, is held. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay REUTERS