WASHINGTON, Aug 8: The United States is making last-ditch efforts to persuade President Pervez Musharraf to attend the Kabul jirga, even though some in Washington see his refusal as aimed at conveying his annoyance with a change in the US attitude towards his government.

At the State Department, spokesman Sean McCormack indicated that there’s still a possibility that the Pakistani leader may attend the jirga initiated by US President George W. Bush.

“The Pakistani prime minister has decided to attend. It is an important initiative and we'll see if President Musharraf is able to attend some portion of the meeting,” Mr McCormack said.

“We'll see what happens. At the end of the day, what is important is that the meeting produces some results,” he added.

Diplomatic sources in Washington told Dawn that President Hamid Karzai had asked Gen Musharraf to reconsider his decision. The sources said that a senior US leader – President Bush or Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice – also telephoned President Musharraf to encourage him to attend the jirga.

Diplomatic observers in Washington said that Gen Musharraf’s decision indicated his annoyance with a change in the US capital where both government officials and lawmakers have launched a stream of scathing attacks on the Pakistani leader.