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Northern Alliance rejects U.N. force plan

The talks are expected to wind up before Sunday

KOENIGSWINTER, Germany (CNN) -- Delegates of the Northern Alliance have rejected calls for an international security force to patrol in Afghganistan.

The rebuff came on the second day of talks about Afghanistan's future in Bonn, Germany.

A security force is one of two items that are to be decided at the talks among four Afghan factions. The other is an interim administration.

"We don't feel a need for an outside force. There is security in place," northern alliance delegation leader Younus Qanooni said.He said that any force should be comprised of the ethnic Afghans.

The United Nations has three proposals for a security force to ensure peace in Afghanistan once the Taliban are defeated: an Afghan force, a U.N. peacekeeping force and an international security force. Officials have indicated an international force would be the most realistic.

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Alliance delegates met earlier on Wednesday with those representing Afghanistan's former king, discussing a plan for an interim administration to pave the way for a post-Taliban government.

The Northern Alliance and the king's factions have agreed, however, on a transitional council that would set up an interim government.

Members of delegation of former king Mohammad Zahir told CNN that the Northern Alliance and the king's factions, which together make up a majority of the conference participants, have agreed to form a transitional council of 120 to 200 members.

They said two commissions have been set up within the conference to draw up lists names of who should be on the council, and they hope to have those lists complete by end of the conference. The council would then pick Afghanistan's interim government.

But the delegates said implementation of the council depends on a resolution of the security issue.

Later on Wednesday the two groups -- the two most powerful at the talks -- planned to meet with Lakhdar Brahimi, the chief U.N. envoy for Afghanistan.

The U.N.-sponsored summit is taking place at a hotel near Bonn, and U.N. officials had said they were upbeat about the progress so far.

One of the delegates, Ahwad Wali Massoud, said he was hopeful about the outcome of the talks.

"We are hoping that we can get everything done, hopefully (at) this meeting," said Massoud, the brother of assassinated Northern Alliance leader Ahmed Shah Massoud. "If not, at least we should get the main points. As a principle, we should agree on the major things."

Also present at the talks are the "Peshawar Group," representing the millions of Afghan refugees in Pakistan, and the "Cyprus Group," representing an Iranian-backed group of Afghan exiles.

The United Nations opened the summit of Afghan factional leaders on Tuesday to discuss the country's future and take the first steps toward building a post-Taliban government.

Those attending are hoping the meeting will lead to a roadmap for the "formation of a fully represented, broad-based government."

All four groups have agreed the most important thing on the agenda is forming a transitional, interim administration to run Afghanistan for the next few months.

U.N. and U.S. officials agree that the former Afghan king, Mohammad Zahir Shah, 87, -- who has been living in Italy since a 1973 coup -- should play a role in the next government, even if it is a symbolic one. Security is another issue being discussed.

A U.N. spokesman said he expected the talks to wind up by Sunday.

-- CNN Bettina Luscher contributed to this report.