Loya Jirga began to work in Kabul

The supporters of "interim" head of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai scored their first victory at Loya Jirga (the Great Assembly in the Pashtu language) - the family and tribal institute of the Afghan Pashtoons which in the absence in the country of a parliament elected by all people is acting as a kind of "pre-parliament". Member of Karzai's retinue Serbgatullah Mojaddedi was elected chairman of the highest All-Afghan forum.

Mojaddedi was the first president of the Islamic State of Afghanistan, formed after the downfall of the pro-Soviet regime of Najibullah in 1992.

The Afghan independent observers note, however, that main struggle between the advocates of the presidential and the parliamentarian forms of rule still lies ahead. Evidence of this is the fact that a representative of the Afghan clerical circles became the second candidate to the post of Loya Jirga chairman.

Today Loya Jirga will start considering the main question - a draft of a new Constitution of Afghanistan. Adoption of the country's new Constitution will open the door to holding new presidential elections in Afghanistan scheduled for June 2004.