Afghanistan’s much-delayed peace jirga, or assembly, gets under way in Kabul on Wednesday. Under a large tent at Kabul Polytechnic University, 1,600 delegates ”” one-fifth of them women ”” will try to come up with ways to persuade the Taliban and other insurgents to lay down their weapons and reconcile with their countrymen.
But many war-weary Afghans aren’t optimistic the conference will produce meaningful results.
The highly touted peace jirga seems anything but organized. On Tuesday the event’s planners were still trying to come up with a schedule, and hundreds of delegates had yet to arrive.
And Afghan President Hamid Karzai has not laid out exactly how he plans to reconcile with insurgents.
Read or listen to it all.
Afghans Skeptical Peace Talks Will Bring Stability
Afghanistan’s much-delayed peace jirga, or assembly, gets under way in Kabul on Wednesday. Under a large tent at Kabul Polytechnic University, 1,600 delegates ”” one-fifth of them women ”” will try to come up with ways to persuade the Taliban and other insurgents to lay down their weapons and reconcile with their countrymen.
But many war-weary Afghans aren’t optimistic the conference will produce meaningful results.
The highly touted peace jirga seems anything but organized. On Tuesday the event’s planners were still trying to come up with a schedule, and hundreds of delegates had yet to arrive.
And Afghan President Hamid Karzai has not laid out exactly how he plans to reconcile with insurgents.
Read or listen to it all.