General Tommy Franks, the American commander of the war in Afghanistan, hopes to complete the training of between 2, 000 to 3, 000 soldiers for the new Afghan army within six months.

ECONOMIST: Searching for stability | The

The king's arrival has been welcomed not only by fellow members of the Pushtun ethnic majority, like Mohammed Ali Jalali, of the eastern province of Paktika, but even by General Wasequllah, an ethnic Tajik and former Northern Alliance commander, who has just been named a general in the new Afghan army.

ECONOMIST: America to the rescue? | The

It has also been aided by the presence of both an American-led force of 18, 000, which is hunting down the remnants of al-Qaeda and the Taliban, and a separate, 8, 000-strong NATO-led force, which is keeping the peace while a new Afghan national army and police force are built up and the warlords' private militia are disarmed.

ECONOMIST: A fair vote, despite a few inkspots | The