21.  Afghan groups also did not send any representatives.

22.  Afghan groups are meeting in Germany this week in an attempt to form the basis of an interim government.

23.  Ahmad Fawzi, the U.N. spokesman for Afghanistan, said that the Afghan groups must decide on an interim authority in less than a week.

24.  Although the United States initially distanced itself from the northern alliance, negotiations among Afghan groups on an alternative government to replace the Taliban have been painfully slow.

25.  Although the United States initially distanced itself from the northern alliance, negotiations among the various Afghan groups on an alternative government have been painfully slow.

26.  Any move against Omar probably also would include U.S. special forces, which are operating with the anti-Taliban Afghan groups that would also join in the hunt.

27.  Before the conference opened, Ahmad Fawzi, the U.N. spokesman for Afghanistan, said that the Afghan groups must wrap up the talks in less than a week.

28.  Brahimi, a former Algerian foreign minister, has been talking to Afghan groups to start the difficult process of cobbling together a multiethnic transitional government.

29.  Brahimi is currently in Pakistan as part of a wide-ranging effort to try to ensure that any post-conflict government represents all Afghan ethnic groups.

30.  Brahimi is scheduled Tuesday to wrap up four days of talks in Iran with various Afghan groups and top Iranian political figures including President Mohammad Khatami.