Bring Afghans together urges UN official

A senior United Nations official has urged the United States and its allies to bring Afghans into its coalition against Osama bin Laden.

The United Nations Secretary General's representative on Afghanistan, Francesc Vendrell, said the crisis offered opportunity as well as danger.

It could be an historic opportunity to end the civil war in Afghanistan, establish a government that was acceptable to all Afghans, and deal with the presence of Islamic militants.

He said many Afghans, including many Taleban, were unhappy with the increasingly radical nature of the government and wanted change.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service