Afghan jirga proposes peace

Afghan leaders wrapped up a landmark conference in Kabul on Friday by demanding the creation of a powerful commission to implement a peace process after nearly nine years of war with the Taliban. Some 1,600 delegates from across the political and social spectrum attended the three-day ‘peace jirga’ in a giant tent and came up with a 16-point declaration in which they urged all parties to disarm and reconcile. Although symbolic, the lasting impact of the jirga, which is a traditional Afghan gathering convened in times of trouble, remains unclear. The Taliban were not invited, tried to attack the opening session with rockets and suicide bombers, and they have vowed to boycott any negotiations until the 1,30,000 US-led foreign troops leave Afghanistan. ‘Participants demand all involved in war — abandon war and brother-killing and, for a lasting peace in the country, accept peace and reconciliation,’ announced Qiamuddin Kashaf, a deputy chairman of the jirga. A peace process should be Afghan, but supported by the international community, with ‘a powerful commission or peace shura’ or council established to implement a peace process and decisions of the jirga, Kashaf added. Tribal elders, clerics, lawmakers and members of the opposition who have renounced violence should be on the shura, which ‘must establish a committee for addressing the problems of the prisoners, their release and reintegration’. The United States and NATO are boosting to 1,50,000 the number of foreign troops in Afghanistan by August as they build up operations to beat back the Taliban from around their spiritual home of Kandahar in the south. Delegates were divided into committees to consider the specifics of a plan for the Western-backed Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, to approach militant leaders, including who and how, for negotiations that could lead to an end to war. Although a number had demanded a timetable for US-led troops to quit the country and for their operational ability to be limited, neither suggestion was included in the final communique read to delegates. Instead the jirga called for the release of those ‘wrongfully’ detained by Afghan and foreign forces, and asked the military to avoid bombardments that cause civilian deaths — a deeply sensitive issue in Afghanistan. Karzai closed the conference with a speech, welcoming the declaration and promising to do his best to implement the delegates’ proposals. ‘I listened to your resolution. It was comprehensive, perfect and righteous,’ the president said. ‘This jirga will make our hopes come true, will achieve peace,’ he said. ‘You showed us the way forward. Now we will take this way. The way you set, the way you chose and set out. We will go that way, step by step.’ Diplomats have said any broadly-supported agreement would add legitimacy to Karzai’s leadership, as his popularity with the Afghan public is low and his government is regarded as corrupt and inept. In a nod to fears that social advances, such as in education or for women, could be compromised in any deal with the Taliban, the jirga said peace efforts ‘must not undermine’ achievements made by the government or legal values. It called on the government to take action against corruption, which infects every aspect of Afghan life and is a reason for the unpopularity of Karzai’s government; to create jobs, do development and boost the economy. The jirga demanded that the Taliban to renounce violence, stop killing innocent people and cut ties with al-Qaeda and ‘regional terrorist groups’ in a reference to networks based across the border in Pakistan.