The man designated to head the interim government that will take power in Afghanistan ( news - web sites ) this week was to meet the former Afghan king Tuesday for talks to smooth the way for the exiled monarch's return.
Hamid Karzai arrived in Rome late Monday night for a meeting with the 87-year-old former king, Mohammad Zahir Shah, who has lived in exile in the Italian capital since 1973.
Zahir Shah is due to return home in six months to open a Loya Jirga, or grand council, to map out the country's future as part of a U.N.-sponsored peace plan.
Karzai told reporters on his arrival in the Italian capital that he believed an international peace force was likely to arrive in Kabul before his government takes office Saturday.
"I can't give you a date but I believe they will," Karzai said.
His words echoed a senior U.S. official in Kabul who had said advance troops from an international peace force would arrive in Kabul in time for the government to take office.
Karzai was expected to stay in Rome for two days. He met the former king's grandson, Mostapha Zahir, for 20 minutes on his arrival at Rome's international airport.
Karzai was also expected to hold talks with other members of the king's small group of relatives and advisers, including the former monarch's son, Mir Wais Zahir.
The ex-king is seen as a key player in trying to unite Afghans, at least symbolically.
Karzai, 46, leader of the Pashtun Popalzai tribe, was named on December 5 to head the interim administration that will rule Afghanistan for six months and prepare the way for a transitional government that will take power for the following two years.
He was nominated for the interim post by the so-called Rome group of exiled former king and benefited from being a member of the dominant ethnic Pashtun group who many felt were not fully represented at the Bonn conference that brought together representatives of most of Afghanistan's anti-Taliban political players.
During a stopover in London Monday, Karzai said he felt "very confident."
"So far, things are going very well and let's hope for the best," he told reporters.
The details of the proposed multi-national peace force's make-up have yet to be announced but British Prime Minister Tony Blair ( news - web sites ) said in parliament Monday that Britain would contribute up to 1,500 troops to the peace force and was prepared in principle to lead it.
The force, to guard the peace in the capital city Kabul and possibly other locations, was a key part of the peace deal signed in Germany which paved the way for the new post-Taliban interim administration to take power.
Since then, the Northern Alliance, which now controls the capital, has said it wants to see no more than 1,000 foreign troops with a tightly defined mandate, mainly to guard government meetings.
But countries expected to contribute troops have discussed a much larger force with a more robust mission.