Afghanistan:They have bickered, traded insults and hurled bitter accusations at one another, but yesterday President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan and his Afghan counterpart, Hamid Karzai, came together in a surprisingly warm show of unity.
Gen Musharraf flew into Kabul for the closing ceremony of a cross-border jirga, or peace conference, to discuss the Taliban insurgency that threatens stability in both their countries. After four days of talk, the language was at times more Woodstock than Waziristan.
"This will usher in a new era of love and understanding," said Pakistan's interior minister, Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, adding that it would "send good vibes across the country and the region". Pakistani flags draped the streets and the two leaders repeatedly spoke of "brother nations".
Many of the 650 delegates seemed to agree. "I came here as a pessimist but now I am very happy," said Shukria Barakzai, an outspoken female parliamentarian from Kandahar. "This is the beginning of a new peace process."
"A step in the right direction," said Sardar Haider Khan from Quetta, a Pakistani city across the border.
British ambassador Sherard Cowper-Coles termed it a historic occasion. "There was a palpable sense of relief, pleasure and of history being made."
Whether the rhetoric though will translate into tangible changes remains in doubt. Outside the tent the Taliban insurgency continued unabated.
Three US soldiers died after being hit by a roadside bomb in southern Nangarhar province while a British soldier died in an attack in Helmand. Across the border in Pakistan, the brutalised remains of two alleged American spies were found in the tribal belt. One had his arms, legs and head chopped off. A note beside the torso said the man had been paid $200 (€146) a month by the Americans, and ordered locals not to grant him a funeral.
The jirga had started amid considerable scepticism, undermined by the absence of tribal elders from Waziristan and of Pakistan's largest pro-Taliban religious party, the JUI-F, which boycotted the meeting.
Diplomats cautioned of low expectations and analysts wondered how useful a jirga was when western countries had already spent millions helping Afghans to elect a new parliament.
"It's very unclear who these people are and what they represent," said Joanna Nathan of the International Crisis Group. "In some ways it's a dash of everything."
The shadow of President George Bush, who promoted the idea at a tense Washington meeting with Mr Karzai and Gen Musharraf last September, hung heavily over the proceedings. After Gen Musharraf caused consternation by pulling out of Thursday's opening ceremony at the last minute, US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice placed a late-night call to him and delivered a stern chat.
He flew into Kabul yesterday in a conciliatory mood. There was "no doubt" that the Taliban was using bases in Pakistan to attack Nato, US and Afghan troops, he conceded. However, he insisted that Afghan accusations that his soldiers were secretly fomenting the unrest were untrue.
"Pakistan has no ambition whatsoever to control Afghanistan," he said. "Taliban is a name. Talibanisation is a concept. We are firmly against both . . . I guarantee you that I speak from the heart."
The jirga passed resolutions about co-operation on drugs and terrorism, and resolved to hold a further meeting in Pakistan, but it has only moral authority and what it can achieve is unclear.
Meanwhile, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, leader of Pakistan's largest opposition party, said she hoped to return home from New York by mid-October for elections in which she may form an alliance with Gen Musharraf. Ms Bhutto said any deal depended on the president taking confidence-building steps by the end of August, such as lifting a ban on her serving a third term as prime minister.
- (Guardian service)