KABUL: As delegates to this country’s grand assembly, or loya jirga, spent Saturday brainstorming ways to solidify the peace that has taken hold in most areas, a new outbreak of lawlessness racked the north and threatened to shut down humanitarian relief work.

Long rebellious, the region around Mazar-i-Sharif has been the scene of violence in recent days as three rival commanders have been taking part in the gathering here — and presumably supervising incursions into their adversaries territory on the assumption that those rivals would let down their guard while attending the conference.

The incidents, including the gang rape of an international aid worker, testify to the residual animosity and aggression that could expose vast swathes of the country to conflict and bloodshed even as a new government with popular endorsement seeks reconciliation after more than two decades of war.

The clashes and attacks in the north prompted UN special envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi, to complain to president-elect Hamid Karzai that food and other assistance might not reach needy refugees in the region unless the attacks cease.

Brahimi also drew Karzai’s attention to attacks, robberies and beatings carried out against aid organizations, as well as the harassment of refugees and a gun battle in the village of Sholgara that shot up a medical clinic.

On Friday, an American aid vehicle en route to oversee bread distribution at a refugee camp in Dehdadhi, near Mazar, was fired on, prompting the agency to pull out of the country, Almeida said.

Other NGOs “are considering similar actions because of the situation in that part of the country,” he said.

Brahimi’s statement said he “regretted that UN intervention with local authorities did not result in effective measures” being taken to put an end to the violence. The UN envoy has therefore turned to Karzai, who has been urging regional warlords to submit to central authority so Afghanistan can get on with the huge task of rebuilding itself.

The warlords involved — Uzbek Deputy Defence Minister Abdul Rashid Dostum, Tajik commander Atta Mohammed and Hazara leader Mohammed Mohaqiq — strode about the loya jirga all week, prompting delegates to complain that their presence was intimidating and a reminder that gunmen still wield too much power over politicians.

Two days after voting for Karzai as head of state in a transitional leadership that will serve until nationwide elections in 2004, the delegates spent Saturday on a steady stream of regional laments. Long denied any voice in government affairs, the participants have been so insistent on airing their views that the conference is far behind schedule and unlikely to meet its deadline for conclusion on Sunday.

The most important task left to the gathering is assistance to Karzai in naming a new Cabinet. But having been sidelined in the choice of a president by foreign pressure on the former king and a previous president to withdraw from the running, the delegates have made clear that they expect to be consulted on the remaining appointments.

Others proposed seating an oversight body to work with Karzai, which the newly selected leader agreed to.—Dawn/The Los Angeles Times/WP News Service.