PESHAWAR, May 16: Afghan Constitution Drafting Commission has set up its consultative office in Peshawar to hold discussion with the refugee representatives in Pakistan with a view to drafting a new constitution for the war-ravaged country.

The opening ceremony of the consultative body was held here at the Afghan consulate on Friday. The commission members Haji Zahir Khan Jabarkhel, Waheed Omar, Miss Afiffa Aziz, Miss Fakheria Assad and Peshawar-based Afghan consul general Abdul Khaliq Farahi attended the meeting.

At present, the Afghan transitional government functions under 1964’s constitution drafted during King Zahir Shah’s era. The country had a total of nine constitutions and draft constitutions in different periods and the first one was drafted by King Amanullah Khan in 1923.

Speaking on the occasion Mr Jabarkhel said that the commission office would function in Peshawar for six months and its members would visit refugee camps in NWFP and the adjacent tribal areas to involve broad public consultation.

He said the transitional government was fully committed to consult representatives of refugees, living in Pakistan, Iran and other parts of the world to incorporate their expertise.

He said fundamental rights of the people of Afghanistan would be protected in the new constitution and the constitutional draft would reflect religious, social, political and cultural values of the Afghan people.

Mr Jabarkhel said the commission would receive  73 different constitutional drafts from abroad.