Afghan elders hold key talks on US ties, peace

A major gathering of Afghan elders to debate future relations with the United States and a strategy for peace with insurgents starts Wednesday in a giant tent in Kabul under security lockdown. The Taliban have threatened to target the loya jirga, a national assembly of 2,000 elders, which President Hamid Karzai called to seek a mandate for ongoing talks with the United States on a controversial strategic partnership. But questions remain about the scope and purpose of the meeting. The outcome of the talks is not binding and the proposed partnership with the United States is still some way from agreement. Karzai insists that Afghans favour a deal with the United States "provided that Afghan national sovereignty and the constitution is upheld and the agreements help strengthen peace and stability". He also said he would formally announce the second wave of places set to transfer from NATO to Afghan control at the jirga on Wednesday. This is part of a process in which all foreign combat forces will leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014. Afghan officials have previously said that up to 17 places are expected to be named in the latest phase of the handover. Following a string of high-profile recent attacks in Kabul and a rocket attack at the last loya jirga in 2010, Afghan officials say they are taking no chances with security at the four-day meeting. "All possible measures are being taken," said interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi. "There have been house searches in the area close to the tent. There are constant police patrols in and around Kabul." The area around the tent is also on lockdown. Around 100 people gathered in central Kabul early Wednesday to protest against the US presence in Afghanistan before the demonstration was broken up by officials. The Taliban said this week that those supporting a long-term US presence in Afghanistan at the jirga would be considered "national traitors" and "deserving of harsh penalties." Some of those taking part said they have received text messages warning them against doing so. On Monday, a suspected suicide bomber carrying a bag of explosives was shot dead near the jirga tent, a day after the Taliban claimed to have leaked a security plan for the event -- that Afghan and Western officials said was fake. The US-Afghan strategic partnership, which diplomats hoped would be concluded by now, will govern ties between the two countries after 2014. But talks are thought to have snagged on issues including the extent of US support for Afghan security forces, which will take full responsibility for the country's security in three years, and base rights for American forces. Although there is no deal yet, Karzai is pressing on with the jirga in what one Western diplomat in Kabul said was the hope of securing a "very general mandate" to pursue negotiations with the US. Analysts say Karzai is increasingly isolated politically. But key figures, such as Karzai's main rival, Abdullah Abdullah, and former ally, Soviet-era warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum, are boycotting the event as "unconstitutional" because of the way those taking part have been appointed. Analysts say a lack of transparency in the jirga's agenda has provoked some suspicion about Karzai's motives for going ahead with it. "The delegates themselves have been left mystified as to what exactly they will be discussing and why," wrote Kate Clark of the Afghanistan Analysts Network in a blog post Wednesday. Karzai frequently makes anti-US outbursts and many Afghans say they are fed up with the foreign troop presence in the country after a bloody, 10-year war in which thousands of civilians have died. Many Afghans also believe they were abandoned by the United States after the collapse of the Soviet Union, following the end of the US and Pakistani-sponsored mujahedeen war against Soviet troops in the 1980s. Karzai wants to prevent a repeat scenario by securing guarantees of financial support. The jirga is also expected to discuss efforts to hold peace talks with the Taliban following the assassination of Karzai's peace envoy Burhanuddin Rabbani in Kabul in September which officials blamed on the militia. This prompted Karzai to review his peace policy and say he would leave it up to the jirga to decide future steps.