Afghan jirga to call for peace with Taliban

Hundreds of Afghan tribal elders and notables were set to make a formal call for peace with the Taliban 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, organisers of the jirga said.

"The committees have finished their discussions and hopefully will be unified and later in the day a resolution on it will be announced for approval," Gul Agha Ahmadi, a spokesperson for 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, who have grown into a powerful fighting force since their ouster from power in 2001 by US-backed Afghan forces, were ready to respond to the peace offer.

On Wednesday they attacked the opening of the jirga with rockets and gunfire just as Karzai was speaking inside a giant marquee in the west of the capital.

The Taliban want the withdrawal of all foreign forces from the country before any negotiations can begin. The insurgency is at its most intense at the moment and analysts say there is little reason for them to sue for peace.

"Basically, every effort by the invading foreigners including the convening of the jirga which is now being carried out on the demand of and under the shadow of the foreign troops is, in fact, aimed at securing the interests of the foreigners," the Taliban said in a statement on their website.

The United States plans to begin a troop pullout from July 2011, hoping to stabilise the country with a surge ordered by president Barack Obama in December. The additional troops deployed to Afghanistan are preparing for an operation in the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar which military officials say may force them to reconsider their opposition to making peace.

Washington backs Karzai's plan for trying to reintegrate Taliban foot soldiers back to the mainstream but is wary of any overtures to senior Taliban figures, some of whom, including supreme leader Mullah Omar, are on its most wanted list.

It would rather that the Taliban were put under pressure on the battlefield before reaching out to senior figures.

Jirgas have been called at key moments in Afghanistan's history such as whether to take part in the two World Wars or for the adoption of a post-Taliban constitution. Karzai is hoping that the latest jirga will not only endorse his peace bid, but  also improve his approval ratings after years of misrule.