Afghans to debate future of US presence, Taliban vow attacks

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KABUL, Nov 16 (Reuters): About 2,000 Afghan community and political leaders will gather Wednesday in Kabul under tight security for four days of deliberations on the country's most pressing issues, including ties with main ally the United States. The meeting, known as a loya jirga, or grand assembly, cannot make laws, and whatever it decides has to be approved by parliament, but the subjects up for debate are among the most sensitive: the scope of a US military presence after a 2014 deadline for foreign combat troops to leave and the idea of peace talks with the Taliban. The Taliban, who have long fought to oust foreign forces, have dismissed the meeting as a ruse to cement what they see as foreign interference and have already tried to disrupt it. They have vowed to target participants and said they had a copy of the jirga security plan. On Monday, security forces shot dead a suicide bomber before he could set off his explosives near the site of the jirga. "The loya jirga will discuss mainly two agendas: one will be regarding the strategic partnership deal with US and another (will be) about the peace process," said Rangeen Dadfar Spanta, national security adviser to President Hamid Karzai. Jirga means gathering in the Pashto language and the assemblies of mostly bearded, turbaned notables are a tradition among the Pashtun tribes of the south and east. Grand gatherings, or loyal jirgas, have been called throughout Afghan history to discuss weighty affairs that affect the country's various ethnic groups and tribes. Karzai, who is negotiating a strategic partnership with the United States, will have had his position strengthened by Tuesday's announcement that the International Monetary Fund has approved a $133.6 million loan programme, marking a fresh start to ties strained since last year by a bank corruption scandal. "The strategic plan is the big agenda. In the jirga they will discuss economic development ... foreign troops' existence in Afghanistan, security, night raids and many more issues which are part of the deal," said Safiullah Zeer, an organiser of the meeting.