He said there is no provision in current law for any kind of interim appointment.
And when he decided that one term at the top was enough, that a kind of brooding, interim retirement was best all round, he appeared full of doubts and anxieties.
Further confusing the picture, the drafting of the charter has bogged down in disagreements over who should be appointed to sit on the drafting committee, while the ruling generals have threatened to issue a kind of temporary, interim constitution, which would give the new president sweeping powers and preserve the extensive privileges of the military.
Behind the scenes there has been a mad scramble to put together some kind of interim group of figures who could be accepted as a "national salvation government," but no one wants to take a position without S.C.A.F.
It will not happen quickly and it may need to be approached with subtlety as well as forceful insistence (in Kosovo they simply converted the rebel forces into a kind of home guard as an interim step).
The hope of a ceasefire, or an opening to a less savage situation, is blown away, usually by some brutal deed.A lull in the violence, encouraging talk of some kind of interim agreement, is smashed, either by a terrorist bomb or by Israel assassinating a militant or raiding the heart of Palestinian territory.
After the meeting, Mr. Brahimi said he would try to convene "a representative sample of the Afghan population together and see what kind of interim arrangements can work together for Kabul".
Lakhdar Brahimi of Algeria, the United Nations envoy working to galvanize the Afghan opposition to the Taliban, emerged from the conference to say, "We are going to try as soon as possible to get hopefully a representative sample of the Afghan population together and see what kind of interim arrangements we can work together for Kabul".
"We are looking for some swift action, which is why we support some kind of interim funding.
No timetable has been set yet for the project, which will take years to build, and state officials have not yet decided whether to attempt some kind of interim solution to get the transit lines in use again.
