By Sayed Salahuddin
KABUL, July 2 (Reuters) - Afghanistan has postponed the launch of an ambitious drive to disarm 100,000 fighters until key reforms are implemented in the defence ministry to make it more ethnically representative and accountable.
The disarmament programme -- seen as a crucial step in establishing stability in the war-ravaged country -- should have begun in early July but has been postponed until the end of the month, an aide to President Hamid Karzai said.
"The cabinet is discussing the issue of reform. The president waits to see the reform before actually launching it," said presidential press official Khaliq Ahmad, referring to the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) programme.
"So, the programme has been delayed until the end of July."
Provincial governors and warlords control militias numbering tens of thousands of fighters across the country. Most ignore the authority of the central government and some battle rivals over territory and trade routes.
Compounding Afghanistan's security problems are remnants of the former Taliban regime, their al Qaeda allies and fighters loyal to renegade warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, all of whom have been accused of recent attacks on government and international forces and aid workers.
The defence ministry is dominated by a small but powerful ethnic Tajik faction under Defence Minister Mohammad Qasim Fahim, who helped the U.S. military topple the Taliban in 2001.
Karzai, a member of the country's biggest ethnic group, the Pashtuns, has said reform of the ministry is essential before the disarmament plan can go ahead. Government officials say the aim of the reform is to avoid favouring one faction over another.
Khaliq said the delay in the launch of the three-year disarmament plan was not because of any rift in the transitional government.
Political analysts have said delays in defence ministry reform and in the disarmament plan could result in the postponement of a general election due in June 2004.
But Khaliq said Karzai was keen to finish his term of office before June next year and did not want to delay the election.