Afghanistan's new power-sharing government is in danger of falling apart even before it takes office. A senior warlord, Gen Abdul Rashid Dostum, is threatening a boycott unless he is given a key ministry to run.
The huge, bluff ethnic Uzbek, Gen Dostum models himself on Ghengis Khan, and claims descent from the leader of the Mongol horde who swept through central Asia destroying everything in his path.
Gen Dostum says he will wreck the UN-brokered government agreement, signed in Bonn on Wednesday, unless he is given a key ministry to run.
"This is a humiliation for us," he said. "We are very sad. We announce our boycott of this government and will not go to Kabul until there is a proper government in place."
His move is an attack on the new regime from an unexpected direction - within the ranks of the Northern Alliance.
The UN special envoy to Afghanistan, Mr Lakhdar Brahimi, sought yesterday to play down doubts cast on the landmark. Referring to Gen Dostum's comments he said: "This does not worry me too much. What they are disputing is the representation of their ethnic group - (but) each ethnic group thinks it is larger than the others do."
Four Afghan factions agreed on Wednesday after exhausting talks in Bonn on the establishment of a government of 30 members reflecting the country's ethnic diversity, to rule for about six months until a Loya Jirga, or traditional assembly, is held.
"General Dostum may contest (the accord) but his representative accepted it," Mr Brahimi said of the accord.
He added that there was wide support among the Afghan population for any move bringing stability to the country. Until now Gen Dostum has been one of the pillars of its strength, battling Taliban forces in the north of the country.
Gen Dostum's anger comes the day after the UN announced a new, broad-based government due to take office on December 22nd. It will rule for six months until a general council can elect a new administration.
In fact, Gen Dostum is not the only critic. Many Afghanis are angry that UN envoys gave just one faction of the Northern Alliance - the ethnic-Tajik Jamiat Islami Party which seized Kabul last month - the lion's share of power. Jamiat, whose troops control Kabul, was promised all three key "power ministeries" (Defence, Interior and Foreign Affairs) in order to win their compliance.
Even the choice of chairman of the new government, Mr Hamid Karzai, from the ethnic Pashtun community, is controversial because he once served in a Jamiat-dominated government.
The UN had expected anger from other Pashtun leaders - the Pashtuns make up 40 per cent of the country, as against the Tajiks who account for just 15 per cent.
But first it must deal with Gen Dostum. His troops now control six northern provinces, and claim control of the cities of Mazar-e-Sharif and Kondoz, other Alliance warlords say they too control them.
During the 1990s, Gen Dostum christened Mazar-e-Sharif the capital of his self-styled empire, which had its own army, currency and even universities and art institutions. He has fought with and against most of the country's factions and warlords at one time or another. It was his men who last month rounded up Taliban prisoners from Konduz, shipped them to a fortress in Mazar-e-Sharif, then machine-gunned many of them when they rioted.