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First afghan parliament inaugurated since 1969 Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000080&sid=aDsUG.fqrUrg&refer=asiahttp://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000080&sid=aDsUG.fqrUrg&refer=asia
Afghanistan to Inaugurate First Parliament Since 1969 (Update2)
Dec. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Afghanistan is inaugurating its first parliament since 1969 at a ceremony in the capital, Kabul, following elections for the assembly held in September.
President Hamid Karzai will preside over the swearing-in of members of the 249-seat lower house of parliament known as the Wolesi Jirga. Elected members gathered last week in Kabul to attend an orientation program, the American Forces Press Service said in a report on the U.S. Defense Department's Web site.
Afghan police and soldiers are deployed around the parliament complex where a suicide bomber was killed trying to carry out an attack on Dec. 16, Agence France-Presse reported.
Afghanistan's last parliament was elected before the country descended into two decades of civil strife in the 1970s. Karzai, who has run the country of 29.9 million people since the Taliban regime was overthrown by the U.S. in 2001, won the country's first direct presidential election in October 2004.
Mohammed Zahir Shah, Afghanistan's former king who was forced into exile in 1973, and U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney are attending the ceremony, AFP reported.
National Holiday
Karzai, who declared a national holiday for today's inauguration, chose an electoral system for the parliamentary polls where candidates stood as independents, without any political parties. Members elected include religious leaders and former militia leaders.
They also include individuals accused of human rights violations and criminal acts, Mehr Khan Williams, the UN deputy high commissioner for human rights, told a meeting in Kabul last week, according to the UN. There is concern that some members may try to pass an amnesty law for violators, AFP reported last week.
Afghanistan's government last week created a truth and reconciliation program to address human rights violations during the years of civil war and bring perpetrators to account.
An investigation recently by the Afghan Human Rights Commission said 69 percent of 6,000 people interviewed reported they were direct victims of violations during the years of conflict, Williams told the Transitional Justice Conference.
Stable Environment
The U.S., which has 18,000 soldiers in Afghanistan hunting for Taliban and al-Qaeda fugitives, is working with Afghan forces to ensure a stable environment for the Afghan government to thrive, Air Force Major Todd Vician, a Pentagon spokesman, said last week, according to the Armed Forces Press Service.
``Conditions changed with the successful parliamentary and provincial elections,'' Vician said. ``Our primary responsibility is counter-terrorism, but we continually reassess our strategy in close partnership with the government of Afghanistan.''
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization said earlier this month it will expand its role in Afghanistan by sending an additional 6,000 soldiers into southern provinces in 2006. NATO has 9,000 soldiers serving in the country.
U.S. and allied forces have faced increased bomb attacks by the Taliban movement this year, resulting in the deaths of about 1,500 Afghan civilians, security forces and insurgents.
Mullah Mohammad Omar, the Taliban's fugitive leader, last month called on the Afghan people to join the Taliban's holy war against U.S. forces. Omar, in a statement yesterday, said the Taliban will target radio and television stations that act as ``loudspeakers'' for U.S. forces, AFP reported.
The information they provide ``is all false,'' AFP cited a statement signed by Omar as saying.
Last Updated: December 19, 2005 01:03 EST
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