Afghanistan's grand council was Thursday finally due to debate the

new constitution after days of wrangling over procedure and uproar

after a woman delegate accused former mujahedin of causing the four-

year Afghan civil war.

The 502 delegates to the loya jirga ("grand assembly") have been

divided into 10 groups to discuss the controversial document and

debate the country's future form of government.

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

gathering Wednesday by criticising the mujahedin and calling for them

to be put on trial.

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

angry mujahedin delegates rushed it, demanding she be expelled.

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

mujahedin delegates for an open discussion on the proposed system of

government before splitting up into 10 groups to debate the document

which is intended to pave the way for Afghanistan's first democratic

elections next year.

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.

She told the assembly the mujahedin were "the main factors who led

this country towards crisis and civil war."

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

before dozens of mujahedin rushed to the stage and demanded 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.

Despite his repeated calls for a presidential system, Karzai on

Wednesday said it was up to loya jirga delegates to decide now the

draft constitution was in their hands.

"It's none of our business," he told reporters.

Some delegates however have alleged government interference behind

the scenes and threatened to boycott the convention.

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.

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