Coming from far and wide, delegates arrive in Kabul

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Their journey ends in a walled-in garden where they sit in tents or squat in the shade sipping tea and waiting for their place in the loya jirga to be confirmed.

More than 1,000 delegates had arrived by helicopter or plane from Afghanistan's furthest-flung provinces by Friday. Others rode to the capital crammed into the back of pickup trucks. Some came from neighboring Iran and Pakistan, others from as far away as the United States.

They brought duffel bags, brief cases -- and hopes for Afghanistan's future.

"I'm here to carry the needs, hopes, ideas and ways of thinking of the area I'm representing for a new government," said Abdul Rahimi, a carpet maker who represents some 50,000 people from the Mazar-e-Sharif region in northern Afghan-istan.

In all, some 1,500 delegates will converge on the capital for next week's loya jirga, or grand council.

Unloading from air-conditioned buses outside the loya jirga commission office, a ceaseless flow of delegates found spots in four tents donated by Morocco or squatted next to walls and under trees waiting to have their place certified, photographs taken and accreditations issued.

From there, they were bused to Kabul's Polytechnic University, where the delegates will remain under tight security throughout the loya jirga, which convenes Monday for five days.

'It's been pretty nice'

The process was remarkably swift, considering some elections were completed in recent days and the distances being covered by the delegates.

"It's been pretty nice, actually," said Molly Little, an international monitor who was helping to process the delegates. "People are very civil to each other in this culture, sitting down and drinking tea. It is very difficult to know what they really are thinking."

Still, there were glitches to be resolved. Female delegates sitting in the shade of a cement wall complained no accommodation had been made for their children or for male relatives, who by custom accompany female travelers.

"When they are giving rights to women, they should take into consideration the problems that women face," said Nadia Salih, a delegate elected in Herat. Her 4-year-old daughter Marjan sat next to her, entertaining an 18-month-old baby -- two of 11 children accompanying their mothers.