Deal on Afghan peace force close

UK troops and Afghan police are mounting joint patrols

An agreement on the deployment of an international peacekeeping force in Afghanistan is close to being signed.

But a last-minute hitch prevented the deal being approved on Sunday.

The UK Ministry of Defence said a key document still had to be translated.

Earlier, a UK forces spokesman in Kabul said that if the deal was not initialled it would simply be because a meeting could not be arranged between the two men due to clinch it - the Afghan Defence Minister, General Mohammed Fahim, and the man who is to lead the international force, Major-General John McColl.

Mr Abdullah said foreign troops would work alongside Afghans

An advance force of British troops has already arrived in the war-ravaged country as part of an International Security Assistance Force authorised by the UN Security Council.

The military-technical agreement will define the force's precise tasks.

The talks have been lengthy, partly because of Afghan sensitivities about having foreign troops in the country at all. General Fahim, in particular, has been unhappy about the idea.

But the BBC's Ian Macwilliam in Kabul says there is almost unanimous support for the force among Kabul residents.

UK in vanguard

The first British peacekeepers arrived in the country to provide security for the 22 December inauguration of the new administration.

We expect something to be signed in the next 24 to 48 hours

UK Ministry of Defence spokeswoman

The deal will pave the way for a second contingent of troops to arrive within a week.

The international security presence is planned to help stabilise Afghanistan as the interim government, which replaced the defeated Taleban regime, begins to rebuild the country after 22 years of war.

The Afghan Foreign Minister, Dr Abdullah Abdullah, had earlier said the agreement on deployment was ready.

He said the security force would work alongside Afghan troops, and its members would be allowed to use force to defend themselves in accordance with rules set by the UN.

But he gave no details regarding the number of troops agreed - previous estimates have been in the 3,000 to 5,000 range.

Peace hopes

Kabul residents hope the international force will prevent the country degenerating into the bloodbath of warring factions they saw in the 1990s, our correspondent says.

Mr Abdullah also said that US bombing raids against targets in Afghanistan should be allowed to continue "as long as terrorist cells are in Afghanistan".

Some members of his administration have called for a halt to the bombings because of concerns about civilian casualties.