Musharraf to skip joint Pak-Afghan Loya Jirga

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday pulled out of the three-day long Joint Peace Jirga starting tomorrow in Kabul, reportedly on security grounds.

Islamabad, Aug 8 : Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday pulled out of the three-day long Joint Peace Jirga starting tomorrow in Kabul, reportedly on security grounds.

Musharraf called up Afghan President Hamid Karzai today and discussed with him about the major tribal council aimed at ending Taliban and Al-Qaeda-sponsored terrorism. He assured the Afghan President of Islamabad's full support in making the Joint Peace Jirga a success.

However, a Foreign Ministry release said that Musharraf would not be able to attend it personally "because of his engagements in the capital."

"President Karzai thanked the President for his telephone call and appreciated the President's support for the Jirga process which the two presidents had initiated last September. President Karzai renewed his invitation to the President to visit Afghanistan in the near future," the statement said.

Now, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz will lead the Pakistan delegation, which includes a number of Federal Ministers.

Aziz and Karzai will inaugurate the Joint Peace Jirga and address its opening session tomorrow.

The three-day Joint Peace Jirga will be attended by around three hundred representatives from Pakistan, including the tribal elders.

Musharraf's decision comes despite the fact that the Jirga was brokered by US President George W. Bush in a meeting with the Afghan and Pakistani leaders in Washington last September.

The Pakistani Jirga has already left for Kabul to attend the joint grand Jirga. Federal ministers and member parliament are a part of the delegation.

Talking to reporters before the team's departure, Federal Minister for States and Frontier Regions Sardar Yar Muhammad Rind said that Pakistan and Afghanistan are trying to find out ways to establish peace.

Rind said that the grand three-day Jirga would seek solutions to problems facing both countries.

The Jirga is meeting at Kabul's Bagh-i-Bala, and the main question before delegates from Pakistan and Afghanistan would be: whether the participants would be able to deliver on the hopes and aspirations of millions of people living on either side of the Pak-Afghan border?

ANI