PESHAWAR, Oct 30: The Human Rights Watch (HRW) has expressed concern over political intimidation and violence associated with the election process of the upcoming constitutional Loya Jirga in Afghanistan.

In a letter to Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Wednesday, the organization referred to what it called a climate of fear that existed in every region of Afghanistan.

It said that many representatives and former Loya Jirga participants were afraid to be involved in the forthcoming jirga.

In Badakhshan, it said, a candidate was forced to withdraw in favour of former Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani, who was later elected delegate to the jirga.

In Herat, the letter said, several political actors who had vocally opposed Governor Ismail Khan had been targeted in assassination attempts.

In Kandahar, candidates in the Loya Jirga election received death threats from the gunmen of the local military commanders, it said.

It said that in several provinces near Kabul warlords had been nominating proxies and threatening other delegates.

The HRW asked the Afghan president to take action against the cases of political intimidation and affirm the provisions of the July 15, 2002, presidential decree on the convening of the jirga, mandating specifically that its elections must be conducted in a free and fair manner.