08 October 2004	Friday	22 Shaban 1425

QUETTA, Oct 7: Hundreds of Afghan elders and refugees belonging to different tribes attended a jirga here on Wednesday to discuss credentials of various candidates taking part in the forthcoming Afghan presidential election.

The Milli Jirga, presided over by Abdul Bari Marufi Alizai, chief election campaigner of Afghan President Hamid Karzai for Balochistan, appealed to the countries holding Afghan nationals as prisoners to release them under a general amnesty and allow them to go home.

The jirga urged the Afghan people to exercise their right of franchise in accordance with their conscience, without any fear. Tribal elders, including Mohammad Ali Hazara, Haji Mohammad Rasool Uzbek, Askar Khan Alkozai, Ghalib Khan Wardag, Malik Nadir Khan, said that the Afghans always fought against foreign aggression and never succumbed to them. They fought off the British troops and ousted the Russian troops from their soil.

They said that at present the Afghan nation was facing a division along ethnic and linguistic lines and urged people to make concerted efforts for the solidarity of the country.

Some of the speakers spoke in favour of President Karzai, saying he was making efforts to unite the Afghan people on one platform for the development and prosperity of their country. They said that despite all hurdles Mr Karzai had played a vital role in the reconstruction of Afghanistan over the past three years.