Afghanistan's Loya Jirga tribal assembly, aiming to balance power between feuding tribes and decide a new government, is to open today after a last-minute hitch delayed the inauguration by five hours.
The Loya Jirga, comprising around 1,500 delegates from all over the country and overseas, is widely expected to retain the services of interim leader Hamid Karzai, selected under last year's Bonn accord to rule for six months.
The assembly, meeting under a massive white tent, will have the task of picking a new government to rule the war-torn country for two years.
"I am really excited," said delegate Ms Adeena Niazi, representing Afghans in Canada, who yesterday flew into Kabul from neighboring Pakistan.
In the streets of Kabul, workers were busy sprucing up the streets and repainting pedestrian crossings as last-minute delegates - professionals, warlords and intellectuals - arrived in the city.
But there have been doubts that the Loya Jirga, a colorful tradition that goes back more than a 1,000 years, can solve all the problems of a country at war for more than 20 years.
A government official said last night "last-minute consultations" between the Northern Alliance and former king Mohammad Zahir Shah had delayed the assembly by five hours.
The assembly, now due to open at 3 p.m. (11.30 a.m. Irish time), is to be inaugurated by Zahir Shah. Under an agreement last year in Bonn, key government posts were given to the Northern Alliance, the bastion of resistance against the Taliban.