Loya jirga delayed for a day

KABUL, Afghanistan -- The former Afghan king renounced any role in the new government Monday -- a move aimed at defusing a crisis that forced a one-day delay in the opening of the grand council to select new leaders for this war-battered nation.

Some of the 1,550 delegates to the council, or loya jirga, were shocked by the decision of 87-year-old Mohammad Zaher Shah, who ruled for 40 years. The step apparently was aimed at pacifying the ethnic Tajik clique that took power through a U.N.-brokered agreement last year after the U.S. bombing campaign toppled the Taliban.

Ethnic Tajik leaders of the former northern alliance strongly oppose any role for the former king. Diplomats said the Tajik concern that Zaher Shah might stand for election as head of state forced the loya jirga to be postponed until Tuesday.

"I have no intention of restoring the monarchy and I am not a candidate for any position in the loya jirga," Zaher Shah said in a statement read by an aide at his Kabul home.

Zaher Shah also supported current interim leader Hamid Karzai for president during the 18-month transitional period. The king's decision leaves Karzai with only one declared opponent -- Burhanuddin Rabbani, an ethnic Tajik who ruled between 1992 and 1996.

Constitution planned

The new president's government will write a constitution and oversee preparations for nationwide elections.

There was no immediate reaction to Zaher Shah's announcement by northern alliance figures. However, some ethnic Pashtun delegates who wanted him to play a greater role in running Afghanistan threatened to boycott the loya jirga.

Many Pashtuns complain of discrimination by northern alliance figures because Pashtuns formed the overwhelming majority of the Taliban.

After Zaher Shah's announcement, there were rumors Pashtun delegates were leaving Kabul or marching on the king's residence to demand he reconsider. There was no sign of either late Monday.

"God willing, everything will be fine," Kabul Police Chief Din Mohammed Jurat said outside the king's residence. "Hamid Karzai is a Pashtun. He is the only one who can unite the country.