June 1, 2002	Saturday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 19,1423

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ISLAMABAD, May 31: Around 250,000 Afghan refugees in Pakistan have demanded a voice at Afghanistan’s upcoming Loya Jirga, the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) reported.

The refugees, living in 10 camps in Pakistan’s tribal region, close to the Afghan border, complained of a lack of representation at the grand assembly.

“There are 250,000 Afghan refugees from 20 provinces living in North Waziristan but the interim administration has not sent any representative from the Loya Jirga commission,” a spokesman for the refugees said.

“We have demanded that some representative be sent here otherwise we would consider the Loya Jirga to be a one-sided affair ignoring Pakhtoon concerns,” he added.

The AIP, however, said a delegation of the Loya Jirga commission had arrived recently in Peshawar to choose people to speak for refugees there at the assembly.

The traditional assembly of tribal elders, which starts on June 10, will meet for six days in Kabul to pick a government to lead the country until democratic elections are held in two years time.

Pakhtoons form the biggest ethnic group in Afghanistan, but the current government is dominated by Tajiks.—AFP