5 June 2010 / REUTERS, KABUL
Hundreds of Afghan tribal elders and notables were set to make a formal call for peace with the Taliban later on Friday, the final day of a traditional assembly that they said was a last chance to end a nine-year war.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai called the “peace jirga” to win national support for a peace plan consisting of offering an amnesty, cash and job incentives to Taliban foot soldiers while arranging asylum for top figures in a second country. The participants, chosen to reflect Afghan tribes, politics and geography, had reached a broad consensus that there was no alternative to seeking peace with the Taliban since neither US-led NATO forces nor the weak Afghan army could guarantee security to Afghans, organizers of the jirga said. Delegates re-assembled under a big tent and began submitting their recommendations for peace. “Everyone wants peace, but there is slight difference on the mechanism on how to go ahead and start the process,” said Mawlavi Abdul Majid, an MP from northern Badakhshan province. “Some want no pre-conditions, while some press for conditions, like not amending the constitution, women’s rights and democracy,” he said. The Afghan government is keen that the gains made since the overthrow of the Taliban in terms of civil liberties and women’s rights are not compromised in any overtures towards them. But there were few signs that the Taliban, which has grown into a powerful fighting force.
