(11 Jun 2002)
1. Long shot of entrance to tent being used for loya jirga
2. Delegates outside loya jirga
3. Delegates in audience inside loya jirga
4. Delegates listening
5. Former Afghan King Zaher Shah on stage
6. SOUNDBITE (Dari) King Zaher Shah, Former Afghan
"I wish a successful in this loya jirga for all the nation's representatives. In this loya jirga, I ask all the delegates to consider the priorities of the nation and the desires of the people, and to have a good outcome and we should choose the right person to bring us a good future. I open the ceremony of this loya jirga and may God help us."
7. Various delegates clapping
8. Delegates listening
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Burhanuddin Rabbani, Former Afghan President
"The delegates to the loya jirga represent millions of other Afghans who could not fit into this tent. In the next days those of you present here must ensure that you speak for all the people of Afghanistan. You come from different cities, provinces, tribes and ethnic groups. But you are all Afghans."
10. Hamid Karzai, Interim Afghan Leader, walking onto stage
11. SOUNDBITE (Pashtun) Hamid Karzai, Interim Afghan Leader:
"This loya jirga was the wish of the Afghan people and it is their decision that has put it in place."
12. Various delegates clapping
13. Yunus Qanooni, Interim Interior Minister addressing loya jirga
14. Wide of stage
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Abdullah Abdullah, Interim Foreign Minister:
"Mr Qanooni resigned from his post as the interior minister and now it is for chairman Karzai to appoint another nominee, another person for that post, there will always be complaints or talk about too many posts in the hands of one group, of one side, one section, one part. Lots of things have to be clarified, but the media is, of course, familiar with that case. This was the first step in that direction. But what I can promise is that the future government of Afghanistan will have more inclusive nature."
16. Wide of stage
STORYLINE:
Afghanistan opened its grand council to choose a new government on Tuesday, shortly after the nation's former president bowed out of the race for head of state, removing the last major challenger to interim leader Hamid Karzai.
The council, or loya jirga, convened in a huge, carpeted, air-conditioned tent, where the 1,550 delegates are to choose a new government to lead the nation from the devastation of war.
The aged, former king, Mohammad Zaher Shah, formally convened the loya jirga and urged the delegates to work for Afghanistan's unity and independence.
Hours before the council convened, Burhanuddin Rabbani, president of post-communist Afghan governments, said he was withdrawing his candidacy for head of state and supporting Karzai.
When he addressed the loya jirga, he urged the delegates to work for the people of Afghanistan, regardless of their individual ethnicities or backgrounds.
Zaher Shah is also backing Karzai for head of state, dashing hopes of some delegates that he would stand for head of state himself.
Karzai, clearly aware of strong support for the king, lavishly praised the former monarch during his opening speech, telling the delegates that Zaher Shah would be given the formal title of "father of the nation" and accorded many of the perks and honors normally reserved for a constitutional monarch - even without the title.
The interim Interior Minister Yunus Qanooni then offered to give up his powerful post under the new government to be selected by the grand council, or loya jirga.
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