The UN Security Council Friday welcomed the successful conclusion of a decisive meeting of the Loya Jirga, or the Afghan grand council, and the inauguration of Hamed Karzai as head of Afghanistan's new transitional government.
In a statement read to the press, the council president, Mikhail Wehbe of Syria, said that the 15-nation council paid tribute to the Afghan people and their leaders for such a large and peaceful gathering so soon after the interim administration took office.
The council also paid tribute to the contribution of the United Nations, particularly to the UN special representative, Lakhdar Brahimi, and to the efforts of the UN peacekeepers in Afghanistan in helping to ensure a secure environment in which the Loya Jirga meeting could take place.
Karzai was sworn in as president of a transitional government Wednesday, pledging to continue the fight against terrorism and end ethnic strife and warlordism in the war-ravaged country.
Karzai, elected president by the Loya Jirga last week, took theoath of office after unveiling a new cabinet lineup.
The Loya Jirga meeting, which ended on Wednesday after nine days in session, was convened as part of a UN-brokered agreementlast December among major Afghan factions to reshape Afghanistan following the ouster of the Taliban government.
The agreement calls for the establishment of a transitional government and envisions general elections in two years.
(eastday.com June 22, 2002)
