Karzai sees jirga as path to peace

KABUL, Afghanistan, June 4 (UPI) -- Reconciliation is the favored path to bringing peace to Afghanistan, leaders from Kandahar said during a peace jirga under way in Kabul.

More than 1,000 tribal elders are taking part in a so-called peace jirga meant to find ways to advocate a reintegration and reconciliation planned embraced by Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Hamid Gailani, a lawmaker from Kandahar province, said at the end of a closed-door conference in Kabul that most Afghan leaders favored the initiative, al-Jazeera reports.

"Everybody agrees with peace and peace without negotiations is not possible," he said.

Karzai during his May trip to Washington unveiled his reintegration and reconciliation process for moderate Taliban fighters.

Taliban leaders described the jirga as "phony" and Karzai's opponents have characterized the reconciliation conference as a publicity stunt. Taliban said they wouldn't talk while foreign troops were in the country.

Karzai is looking to repair his tarnished image through the jirga. Al-Jazeera correspondents said Friday that many of the initiatives raised at the tribal conference would "please" the international community.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday that diplomacy was the favored path toward peace in Afghanistan.

"There is no military solution to most conflicts," she said. "This is not unique in that regard."