Loya Jirga Team arrives in Tehran

ISLAMABAD (NNI): A day after its arrival from an official tour of northern Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, former Afghan King M. Zahir Shah's Loya Jirga delegation headed to Iran for all-important talks with high-ranking officials of the Islamic Republic.

The prearranged trip to Iran comes a day after an official rebuke of the King's peace efforts by the Taliban authorities in Kabul.

Qudratullah Jamal, the Taliban information minister, told reporters "there is no need for the convocation of the Loya Jirga as proposed by the ex-king."

A spokesman for the former monarch told Azadi Afghan Radio that the work of the Loya Jirga process, which aims to find a just political solution to the Afghan conflict through a representative mechanism that would reflect the will of the people, will continue.

The six-man team will spend at least four days in Iran and also meet with representatives of the Afghan community. The spokesman expressed "satisfaction" about last week's talks with anti-Taliban United Front leaders, Uzbek and Tajik officials, and local people.

All parties voiced support for the plan, and the anti-Taliban United Front alliance also requested that the process be broadbased, inclusive and democratic. Zahir Shah's role in the process was also discussed during the recent trips. According to Dr. Zalmai Rassoul, the former king's head of secretariat, it was reiterated that Zahir Shah does not wish to vie for power or the reestablishment of the monarchy.

Instead, the 84 year-old former monarch, who ruled from 1933 till 1973, and is known for his moderate and democratic views, wants to use his experience and prestige as an elder statesman to facilitate the restoration of peace through the holding of a representative traditional "grand assembly" to seek a political solution to the ongoing bloody and devastating conflict that threatens Afghan sovereignty and regional stability.