Afghan council session erupts in chaos
By PAUL HAVEN
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
KABUL, Afghanistan -- Afghanistan's constitutional council erupted in chaos Wednesday, with one delegate denouncing her colleagues as "criminals" and others threatening to walk out in a dispute over whether to adopt a presidential system.
After three days of hopeful speeches and some low-level procedural squabbling, the outbreaks were a sharp reminder of the fractured politics that dominate Afghanistan after more than two decades of conflict.
The constitutional council, or loya jirga, is being billed as a historic opportunity to shape a new and democratic system for this war-ravaged land. It is also a powder-keg of factionalism and a forum to air the grievances of a nation still beset by Taliban insurgents and controlled by warlords.
The council's morning session began with fireworks after a scathing speech by Malalai Joya, a female delegate from western Farah province, who decried the positions of influence given to faction leaders such as former President Burhanuddin Rabbani and Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, a deeply conservative Islamist.
Both men won election to the jirga, while others, like northern strongman Abdul Rashid Dostum were appointed by U.S.-backed President Hamid Karzai. Rabbani and Sayyaf were both named to head important subcommittees at the jirga.
"Why have you again selected as committee chairmen those criminals who have brought these disasters for the Afghan people?" shouted an angry Joya. "In my opinion they should be taken to the world court."
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http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apasia_story.asp?category=1104&slug=Afghan%20Constitution&searchdiff=0&searchpagefrom=1
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