Afghan, Pakistan Tribal Elders To Meet For Peace

Afghanistan and Pakistan tribal elders will assemble next month.

Afghanistan and Pakistan tribal elders will assemble next month to evolve a common mechanism to counter a growing Taliban threat that has sharply strained ties between the already uneasy neighbours.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani leader Pervez Musharraf agreed to hold the assembly, or grand jirga, during a meeting with U.S President George W. Bush in Washington last year.

Karzai and Musharraf, who have been targets of al Qaeda for their support of the U.S.-led war on terror, will address the four-day assembly which starts on August 9, the Pakistani interior ministry said.

The two countries have drawn up a participants list totalling 700, including religious clerics, politicians, writers and the tribal chiefs.

A similar gathering will be held in Pakistan, but no date has been set yet.

Islamabad hopes the jirga would bring peace and stability in the region and enable the two sides to develop ways to deal with the threats of extremism and terrorism.

"We both are victims of terrorism. It is a common problem and we expect this jirga would bring an end to the war of words between the two countries," said Pakistan's Interior Ministry spokesman, Javed Iqbal Cheema.

Relations between the two neighbours, which historically have been tense, deteriorated further over accusations by Afghan officials that the Taliban were organising and launching attacks from the safety of sanctuaries on Pakistani soil.

More than 6,500 people have been killed in the past 18 months in Afghanistan, the bloodiest period since the Taliban's ouster, as insurgents battle government forces and their NATO and U.S.-led allies.

While Pakistan acknowledges cross-border incursions by the militants, it says the growing insecurity in its neighbouring country is largely an internal issue.

U.S. officials say al Qaeda is regrouping in Pakistan and have not ruled out strikes inside Pakistani territory.

Pakistan rejected such statements as "irresponsible and dangerous" and said only its troops could carry out counter-terrorism actions on its soil.