Afghan peace "jirga" starts without Musharraf

By Sayed Salahuddin

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan and Pakistani political and tribal leaders met in Kabul on Thursday to agree ways to combat Taliban and al Qaeda attacks, but its authority was dented from the outset after Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf pulled out.

Musharraf instead met senior aides and ruling party leaders. An aide said the president did not consider declaring a state of emergency, as had been widely reported, to counter Islamist militants allied to al Qaeda and the Taliban.

The three-day council, or jirga, was agreed by Musharraf and Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Washington late last year to bring together the two often feuding, but important U.S. allies to seek a common strategy against al Qaeda and the Taliban.

Musharraf's absence will deal a blow to the jirga, which has already been hit by a boycott by some Pakistani tribal groups.

Karzai was nevertheless upbeat and said Afghanistan and Pakistan had to work together to defeat the Taliban and al Qaeda.

"I am sure and have full confidence that if we have resolve we can get rid of them tomorrow," he said as he opened the meeting in a hall filled with leaders and elders in an assortment of turbans, tribal dress, and suits and ties.

"The people of Afghanistan and dear brotherly Pakistan have pinned their hopes on the success of the jirga," Karzai said.

FUTURES INTERTWINED

Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz came in Musharraf's place.

"The destinies of the people of Pakistan and Afghanistan and their futures are intertwined," Aziz said. "Pakistan has no ambition to control Afghanistan to serve any of its interests."

Afghan officials often accuse Pakistan of harboring Taliban and al Qaeda fighters in order to keep its neighbor weak.

Pakistan denies the charge, saying it has arrested a number of senior al Qaeda leaders and is battling its own Taliban threat in tribal areas along the disputed Afghan border.

Some 175 Pakistani officials, politicians and tribal elders attended the jirga, alongside a similar number from Afghanistan. Another gathering is to be held in Pakistan, but no date has yet been set. After the opening speeches, delegates split into working groups to debate the issues.

Analysts and diplomats warned against high expectations from the jirga, saying it was just a first step towards a unified approach to combating the threat of Taliban insurgents and their al Qaeda allies who now threaten security in both countries.

A jirga is a traditional meeting among the Pashtun tribes that live on both sides of the border, where elders rule by consensus to try to settle disputes peacefully.