Abdullah Abdullah negotiated for cabinet positions in Karzai govt.

This article makes it clear that one of the reasons there is no unity govt. with Abdullah is that he was not offered enough or that he demanded too much. Notice that the West has not been clamoring for Karzai to offer more because the people who Abdullah would bring into the government are not technocrats and liberals. There will be negotiations with Karzai by occupying officials to secure that end and there may not be that much room for Abdullah supporters. Nevertheless something may be worked out yet.

""Abdullah camp negotiated for cabinet positions
Talks continued until hours before candidate withdrew, officials say

By Joshua Partlow
Washington Post Foreign Service

KABUL -- When Abdullah AbdullahAbdullah Abdullah chose to withdraw from the presidential election this week -- effectively handing incumbent Hamid KarzaiHamid Karzai a new term -- he described his position as a selfless protest against a flawed electoral system that was not fair for all Afghans.

But in the behind-the-scenes negotiations between the Abdullah and Karzai camps, less high-minded motives also were at play. Afghan and Western officials said Abdullah's representatives were seeking a power-sharing deal with Karzai, demanding several senior government positions in talks that continued until hours before he announced his withdrawal Sunday.

One Afghan official close to Karzai said that around 2:30 p.m. Saturday, an Abdullah representative handed over a document demanding 11 senior government posts, including cabinet positions, for the candidate's supporters. A Western official said Abdullah's team had earlier demanded five positions.

. One top Abdullah campaign official, however, said there was a 60 percent chance that Abdullah allies would end up in the cabinet.

In his first speech since being declared the election's winner, Karzai said Tuesday that he would be open to cooperating with his rivals, although he did not say whether there would be a place for Abdullah.

""Abdullah does not offer a good number of technocrats and liberals that would be acceptable to the international community," the official said. ""