Afghanistan's landmark constitutional convention was in uproar

Wednesday after a woman delegate accused former anti-Soviet fighters

of dragging the country into civil war.

Malalai Joya, a delegate from western Farah province, inflamed the

gathering by criticising the mujahedin and calling for them to be put

on trial.

Afghan soliders had to mount the stage to keep order as dozens of

angry mujahedin delegates rushed it shouting "Allah akbar" (God is

the greatest) and demanded that the woman was expelled.

The chairman of the loya jirga ("grand assembly") was forced to call

a break to allow tempers to cool.

The unruly scenes were sparked after Joya opposed a plan by several

mujahedin delegates for an open discussion on the proposed system of

government in Afghanistan.

The loya jirga had already agreed to divide the 502 delegates into 10

groups to debate the draft constitution, which is intended to pave

the way for Afghanistan's first democratic elections next year.

Some mujahedin had threatened to boycott the session, alleging that

the cabinet was interfering behind the scenes.

But Joya's intervention exacerbated the sharp differences that have

emerged over key issues such as the power of the president since

Sunday's opening by former king Mohammad Zahir Shah.

"I request the chair of the assembly not to give opportunity (to

speak) to such people who call the traditional loya jirga 'the

council of corruption and prostitution,' while they are the main

factors who led this country towards crisis and civil war," she said.

Quoting a Dari proverb, Joya said the mujahedin had had their chance

to run Afghanistan, made a mess of it during the 1992-96 civil war

and should not be allowed to take power again.

"They should be tried in national and international courts," she said

before the mujahedin rushed the stage to demand the expulsion of

Joya, one of around 100 female delegates. She was eventually allowed

to stay.

The struggle between former anti-Soviet mujahedin factions plunged

Afghanistan into four years of civil war until the Taliban seized

power in 1996.

Most of Kabul was destroyed by mujahedin fighting, rather than during

the Soviet or Taliban eras.

Delegates are divided between those who support the strong

presidential system laid down in the draft and those, including some

mujahedin factions, who would prefer some form of prime minister or

at least a parliament with real teeth to counter-balance sweeping

presidential powers.

President Hamid Karzai has repeatedly said he will only stand in next

year's presidential polls if the loya jirga approves the system laid

down in the draft document.

With Afghanistan slowly emerging from decades of conflict, several

delegates have previously backed Karzai's view that a strong

presidential system was needed as the country lacked the mature

political parties for a successful parliamentary democracy.

Others pointed out that many groups claiming to be political parties

are little more than armed militia factions.

However, several delegates have called for a parliamentary system and

one said Karzai should compromise with his opponents.

Critics have warned that the current draft risks widening the

country's deep ethnic and factional divides.

Streets around the loya jirga site have been sealed off while foreign

peacekeepers, newly-trained Afghan soldiers, police and secret

service agents provided heavy layers of security.

The ousted Taliban have threatened to disrupt the assembly. They

claimed responsibility for a rocket attack on Kabul early Tuesday

which damaged a house but injured no-one.

Main Page