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CNN Live At Daybreak

Loya Jirga Delegates Enter Day Two of Discussions

Aired June 12, 2002 - 05:15   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Day two of the crucial loya jirga or grand council session is underway in Afghanistan. The group will select a new government for a nation ravaged by war.

Our Gary Tuchman is in Kabul for this historic gathering -- good morning, Gary.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, good morning to you. The beleaguered, violent land of Afghanistan may be entering a new phase later today. In about a few hours, we expect some 1,600 delegates who are in that white tent behind me, at the loya jirga, to vote for a new transitional president for the next two years. Security is extremely tight in the area surrounding that white tent. You see people in uniforms and guns all over the place.

And there was an incident earlier. German security forces, who are part of the International Security Assistance Force arrested four men who were pointing AK-47s at them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. COL. THOMAS LOEBBERING, ISAF: One of our German patrols got aimed at by a man and a weapon. There were, in total, two pickups with four men on them. And the second -- we got control of the second pickup -- and detained four men, and handed them over to the local Afghan police force.

QUESTION: Were any shots fired?

LOEBBERING: No shots were fired. The men got into body contact, of course, but nobody got injured, no shots were fired, and the people got detained.

QUESTION: You said there were four weapons, four men -- four weapons?

LOEBBERING: No -- one weapon for a man, right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TUCHMAN: We are told that one of the four men actually cocked his weapon. Now, there is an interesting story behind these arrests. We are told that the four men arrested were bodyguards and/or aides for a possible presidential candidate. That possible candidate was Wali Masood. He's been coy about whether he would run for president against the interim president, Hamid Karzai. But he's an interesting man, particularly because of his brother. His brother is a hero in this country. His brother was the Defense Minister in the administration before the Taliban, and was expected possibly to be a president himself one day, but he was assassinated last year.

Wali Masood, the one who is still alive, the Masood brother still around, was not arrested today. It is not clear if he was in the caravan which was carrying his bodyguards.

Now, we want to take you inside the white tent. Right now, they are at a lunch break, but earlier today, they were taking care of procedural matters. Delegates have been allowed to get up and speak, and these delegates are from all over the country. Some are intellectuals, some are not. One man got up and said, I don't want to see any warlords in this room. Warlords are not supposed to be here. And the person who was chairing the meeting said, well if the warlords were elected in their region, they're here.

And indeed, there are warlords who are attending the loya jirga. We can tell you later today the men who want to be president of this nation for the next two years will get a chance to speak to the loya jirga. The only announced candidate right now is Hamid Karzai, the interim president. But it is possible, as we said, that other people will decide to speak and run also. It will be a majority vote among the 1,600 delegates, who becomes the president of this nation for the next two years. By the summer of 2004, they hope to hold general elections here in Afghanistan for a more permanent president -- Carol, back to you.

COSTELLO: Gary, is Hamid Karzai expected to take the majority of the votes?

TUCHMAN: Right now, the smart money is on Hamid Karzai, and it is an interesting story regarding Karzai. There are some critics of this process who say that delegates were intimidated, delegates were bribed, delegates have been forced to come here and support Karzai because he is the so-called American candidate. And America, the United States, does indeed like Hamid Karzai. However, there are others who say, well, the United States likes him, we like him too, in Afghanistan. He's done a good job for the last few months, and that's why we are here, and that's why we're prepared to vote for him. But the smart money is on Karzai.

COSTELLO: I know there are women on the loya jirga. Is it possible that a women may run?

TUCHMAN: Well, it's certainly possible, and it would be allowed, and that is one of the most fascinating things, Carol, that we're seeing here. Just a few months ago, women weren't allowed to go to school. All women had to wear burkas when they walked around the streets. And as a matter of fact, I would say that 70 to 80 percent of women who we still see in the streets are still wearing the burkas. But inside the loya jirga, inside this tent behind me, there are at least 170 women who are delegates, and we haven't seen any of them yet wearing burkas.

They are wearing veils, but none of them are wearing the full burkas that you still see in the streets of Kabul. But as of yet, none of them has announced they want to run for president.

COSTELLO: That would be a real surprise. Thank you. Gary Tuchman reporting live for us from Afghanistan this morning.

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