Bad Weather Delays Afghan Jirga

A historic council set to decide on a new Afghan constitution has been delayed for the second time in less than a week, officials said Friday.

The grand council, or loya jirga, was to begin on Saturday but will be put off for 24 hours, said a press spokesman, Sultan Baheen.

He said some of the 500 delegates had still not been able to reach Kabul, in part due to inclement weather. Once they arrive, delegates must go through an orientation, another reason for the delay.

"Some of the delegates are still not in Kabul so the secretariat asked the president to postpone the opening session from Saturday to Sunday," Baheen said.

Baheen denied the delay was due to concerns over security, a major issue due to a resurgent campaign by Taliban rebels, mostly in the south and east of the country. U.S. officials have warned that they have intelligence that the Taliban and their al-Qaida allies will try to disrupt the session, though they have given no details.

The council had at first been expected to start on Wednesday, but delays in selecting delegates and travel problems forced an initial postponement.

The repeated non-starts are a reminder of the difficulty Afghanistan still faces in returning to normality after more than two decades of war. Planning for the loya jirga has been chaotic, with many details only worked out in the final hours.

The capital, patrolled by a 5,000-strong international peacekeeping force, has been relatively stable, but attacks in the provinces have been on the upsurge. A bomb exploded Nov. 22 outside the capital's Intercontinental Hotel, the site of the press center for the loya jirga.

The loya jirga is considered a cornerstone event in Afghanistan's long path to recovery. The delegates, who have begun filtering into Kabul from all around the country, must ratify a new constitution, paving the way for national elections scheduled for June.

The 50-page draft constitution was unveiled Nov. 3 after a year of work and many delays. It envisions an Islamic republic with a powerful presidency and a bicameral legislature. The president would be commander in chief of the military, appoint one-third of the legislature's upper house and name judges, military officers, police and national security officials.

It also guarantees a role for women in government and enshrines their right to an education - in contrast to the Taliban, which banished girls and women from schools and public life.

By Paul Haven