"Provisional" president of Afghanistan confident of success of Loya Jirga

Hamid Karzai, head of the transitional government of Afghanistan, expressed confidence of the success of Loya Jirga (literally translated from Pushtu as Great Assembly, a non-permanent institution among the Pushtu tribes, which in the present conditions has been transformed into a prototype of a parliament, an assembly of people's representatives) on working out a new constitution of the country.

Karzai told reporters on Saturday that his confidence is based on the fact that successful elections to Loya Jirga have been conducted in Afghan provinces.

"There was no need to take any security measures during the elections to the Loya Jirga in the majority of the provinces," he said.

He does not rule out that definite corrections will possibly be made in the timetable of convening the Loya Jirga.

However, Faruq Vardak, secretary of the commission for conducting the meeting, considers it possible to postpone the start of Loya Jirga by two or three days, as deputies may have not enough time to arrive in Kabul from the provinces. It was reported earlier that the opening of Loya Jirga was slated for December 10.