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Karzai could invite Taliban to grand jirga

* Gathering to be informal version of ‘constitutionally-recognised’ assembly
* President’s spokesman says jirga to discuss security

KABUL: Afghan President Hamid Karzai could invite militants to attend a ‘loya jirga’, or grand council meeting, to seek peace and reconciliation with the Taliban, a spokesman said on Sunday.

Under the Afghan constitution, a loya jirga made up of parliamentarians and chiefs of district and provincial councils can amend the constitution, impeach the president and “decide on issues related to independence, national sovereignty, territorial integrity as well as supreme national interests”.

Afghanistan’s constitution recognises the loya jirga – Pashtu for grand assembly – as “the highest manifestation of the will of the people of Afghanistan”.

Informal gathering: But Hamid Elmi, a spokesman for Karzai, said the assembly envisioned would not be the “constitutional loya jirga” described formally under Afghan law, but a “traditional one”, which could have a different make-up of notables.

Peace: “The meaning of the traditional loya jirga is how to bring about peace and how to invite the Taliban and opposition in Afghanistan,” he said. “They are not coming to talk about the cabinet and the administration. They are coming to bring security and peace.”

Elmi said the government was looking at two options: either calling a loya jirga at which militants would not be present but a broad spectrum of Afghans would debate how to reconcile with them, or actually inviting some militants to participate.

A decision on who would attend would not be reached until after the date is determined, he said. Karzai would like to hold the meeting before parliamentary elections in June, he said.

The government has said in the past year that it is reaching out to some members of the Taliban, with Saudi Arabia acting as a mediator.

Karzai’s recent election foe Abdullah Abdullah responded cautiously, saying the formal loya jirga described in the constitution could not yet be held because the district officials who would attend it have not yet been elected. reuters

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