WASHINGTON, Aug 11: President Pervez Musharraf’s participation in the Kabul jirga would emphasise Pakistan’s commitment to the peace process, the US State Department said on Saturday.

“We are pleased to hear that President Musharraf has accepted in principle President Karzai’s invitation to address the closing sessions of the joint peace jirga in Afghanistan,” the official said.

The United States played a key role in arranging a jirga of Pakistani and Afghan tribal chiefs, which began in Kabul on Thursday. The decision to hold such a jirga was held at an iftar-dinner President George W. Bush hosted for President Musharraf and his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai in September last year as part of his efforts to remove differences between the two neighbouring states.

President Musharraf’s decision to stay away from the jirga – announced in Islamabad on Wednesday -– alarmed Washington as US officials feared it could further exasperate already tense relations between two key allies in the fight against terrorism.

Secretary of State of Condoleezza Rice telephoned President Musharraf twice on Thursday, asking him to reconsider his decision and also not to impose a state of emergency in Pakistan.

Soon after her telephone calls, Islamabad announced that the government had no plans to declare a state of emergency and the president had agreed ‘in principle’ to attend the jirga.

“President Musharraf’s attendance at the closing meetings would underscore Pakistan’s commitment to the joint peace jirga, dialogue and cooperation made at the trilateral meeting between Presidents Bush, Musharraf and Karzai in Washington last year,” the State Department official said.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and the Pakistani delegation’s participation in the jirga have clearly demonstrated Pakistan’s support for cooperation and resolution of the security problems along the Pakistan-Afghan border, the official said.

“We are pleased that so many tribal leaders from Afghanistan and Pakistan are gathering to advance peace.”