UN envoy to Afghanistan holds talks to help build consensus for constitution

The senior United Nations envoy to Afghanistan today held meetings with delegates to the country’s grand council after they asked for help to build consensus in the process of setting up a national constitution.

Lakhdar Brahimi, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative to Afghanistan, met delegates to the constitutional grand council, or Loya Jirga, in Kabul. He also met Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai and the loya jirga’s president.

The Loya Jirga, which began last month, has the task of drawing up a national constitution for Afghanistan. Its 502 delegates come from across Afghanistan and represent numerous ethnic groups.

A spokesman for Mr. Brahimi said his impression from today’s meetings was that a “workable consensus” around an acceptable constitution might now be emerging.