Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said he wants to hold a jirga (council) of Pashtun tribes from Pakistan and Afghanistan to end Taleban violence.
The two countries disagree on how to fight the Taleban - mostly drawn from the Pashtun tribes- on their border.
Mr Karzai said he expected both he and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to attend the meeting by the year-end.
Afghan ministers and officials are however concerned that such a meeting may be "manipulated" by Pakistan.
"I am thinking of a meeting between Afghan civil society, Afghan elders, tribal chiefs, clergy and Afghan spiritual leadership plus the intellectuals. From the Pakistan side I am hoping for the same thing," Mr Karzai told this correspondent in an exclusive interview.
"The traditional secular Pashtun leadership of Pakistan has been undermined systematically and violently "
"It should be a gathering of the people from one end of the Afghan border with Pakistan to the other end."
Mr Karzai said the jirga would attempt to revive Pashtun civil society on both sides of the border in order to combat what he called the growing Talebanisation of the region.
"The traditional secular Pashtun leadership of Pakistan has been undermined systematically and violently," said Mr Karzai.
"The killing of 150 Pashtun leaders in North Waziristan is a clear indication of that. This can only stop if we support civil society," he said.
Disputed border
The Afghan president said that if Pakistan was transparent about the jirga, it could bring peace between the two countries.
"A jirga means representative and those not representative cannot be there or called to attend. Nobody can fake a jirga in Afghanistan...and I hope there is similar transparency on the Pakistani side," Mr Karzai said.
Pakistan has long stated that it wants Afghanistan to recognise the Durand Line, the 2,640km (1610 miles)-long border between the two countries.
Afghans say the British-drawn, colonial era border line robs Afghanistan of Pashtun territory now inside Pakistan.
No Afghan government, including the Pashtun-dominated Taleban regime which was recognised by Pakistan, has felt strong enough to recognise the Durand Line.
Mr Karzai said a joint commission could be set up with United Nations help between the two countries, which would decide on who would be eligible to sit in the jirga and the modalities of the meeting among other things.
Mr Karzai said the jirga plan was suggested by him at last week's dinner meeting hosted by President George W Bush for him and Gen Musharraf.
This correspondent learns that Gen Musharraf first hesitated at the suggestion.
But after Mr Bush said it was a good idea and the US government would support the idea, Gen Musharraf gave his tentative agreement.
Mr Karzai would like to involve the international community in monitoring the jirga.
Mixed feelings
It is believed that most Western countries support the idea but are reluctant to become involved in what they describe as "complex tribal meetings", between two countries which are both allies of the West in the war on terror, but are also deeply antagonistic to each other.
However, many Pashtuns and non-Pashtun Afghans have expressed concerns about the jirga plan.
They fear the meeting would allow Pakistan to infiltrate "Taleban ideas through the backdoor".
Several cabinet ministers interviewed by this correspondent said the meeting would be "manipulated by Islamabad for its own ends".
"What happens if the Pakistani nominees to the jirga declare jihad against Mr Karzai and the Americans," said one minister, who asked not be named.
Younis Qanooni, the speaker of the Afghan parliament, said it would be "more productive if parliamentary delegations between the two countries met more often rather than have the jirga".
During the interview, Mr Karzai said he felt anguish about the continuing attacks by the Taleban - some 4,000 people had died in Taleban-related violence this year.
'Outside support'
Senior Nato and Afghan officials say that Taleban fighters were being actively helped by Pakistan, a charge Pakistan denies.
A Nato and Afghan army intelligence report after the two-week long Operation Medusa launched by Nato in Kandahar province in mid-September, in which they say 1,100 Taleban were killed, shows undeniable help to the Taleban from Pakistan, according to senior Nato and Afghan officials.
The report says the Taleban had collected one million rounds of ammunition in the Panjwai district of southern Kandahar province before the fighting.
The fighters had fired off some 2,000 rocket propelled grenades and 1,000 mortar shell during the battle, the report says.
The cost of Taleban ammunition stocks alone before the battle were estimated at $5m - such money and preparations would be impossible without outside support, the Nato and Afghan officials say.
Mr Karzai is hopeful that the jirga will improve relations between the two governments and more importantly the Pashtuns on both sides, which in turn will isolate the Taleban.
"No ethnic group or nation in the world is by its own nature radical," said Mr Karzai.
"Extremism makes them suffer that's why governments must stop using this. Afghanistan's stability and peace and prosperity is in the interests of Pakistan."
This debate is now closed. Here is a selection of readers' comments.
It is very easy for Mr.Karzai to point a finger towards Pakistan that it is not doing enough but, as a matter of fact Pakistan is on the forefront of this war and has around 80,000 armed forces on the border region. And it will be helpful for Mr Karzai to arrange a jirga to eradicate exrtemism and Terrorism from Afghanistan and poppy cultivation.
K Raja, Basingstoke, UK
If we want to address the problem in Afghanistan, the international community should force the Pakistani government to stop providing support to Taliban, crackdown on extremists and should focus on building the capacity of the Afghan government to deliver services nationwide and establish the rule of law, while the Afghan should also assume responsibility in restoring peace and the reconstruction of Afghanistan.
I think it depends on the honesty of the Pakistani government in the fight against terrorism, if it is sincerity committed to fight terrorism, it does know how to address the problem, if it is not, than tribal jirgas will not be able to convince Pakistani government and MMA to stop supporting the Taliban.
Barialai Barakzai, Afghanistan
Mr Karzai is no longer a true representative of Afghanistan. How he can call Pashtun tribes Jirga from Afghanistan and Pakistan?
Arshad Hussain, Pakistan
I think calling the jirga is a great idea and that could solve the problem .
Khalil Ahmad, Afghanistan
I think the jirga will solve this problem instead of parliamentary delegations. Mr. Karzai should select representative from tribes of Afghanistan especially from Pashtuns and he should never let those who called themselves as mujahideen the involve in this jirga.
Asmat Ullah, Afghanistan
Pakistan would do everything at any cost to keep the Durand Line with itself. Territorial dispute hast not only put Afghanistan and Pakistan on the verge of wars in the past but also India in fact has fought few wars with Pakistan in this regard. If Pakistan loses the Durand to Afghanistan and Kashmir goes to India, Pakistan will automatically will be wiped out of global map. This is what the Pakistanis most fear which has contributed to their effort of keeping Afghanistan a weak national military and economically through direct or indirect interference in Afghanistan affairs for the past decades, so that there will be no chance for Afghans to claim it back neither diplomatically nor militarily.
Rohallah Haidari, Australia
Such a jirga will not resolve anything. Once a decision is reached, any dissenting tribe will still be free to follow their own path. Will the other tribes go to war over this? They might, and result in another 10 years of inter-tribal bloodshed. This 'may' be a short term fix, but jirgas are a thing of the past. Common sense dictates that instead of giving more power to this outdated method of decision making, more effort is put into bringing these tribes under the fold of the central governments. If the later option works then for Afghanistan it means that for the first time in history, a central government will have control of areas other than the major cities. Such a strategy is already being pursued by the Pakistan Government. I think Karzai's greatest fear here is that the Pakistan Government might succeed!
Sayed T, Canada
Afghanistan needs to ratify the border first. Additionally Afghans need to respect Pakistan and its territorial integrity. Without that happening there is no chance that Pakistan will ever trust the Afghans on any topic.
Aamir Ali, Pakistan
The trouble Nato has today in imposing the Afghan government on Pashtun tribes, is a direct result of sidelining the Pashtun majority in Afghanistan from the puppet government put in place there by the Americans and the large number of Pashtuns killed during the American invasion in 2001. Similarly, Pashtuns have always felt marginalised in the Pakistani society. The resource allocation in Pakistan is based on population ratio. The Pashtun areas get a smaller share in the countries development budget, civil service, defence jobs etc. As long as discrimination exists against the Pashtuns there will be difficulty in achieving complete peace.
M Khan, Peshawar, Pakistan
Jirgas have always proved useful and productive in countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan and this is a proven historic fact that at least Afghans should solve their problems through jirgas. This is because everyone is willing to be involved and once everyone involved, the problem is solved. This is based on the fact that problems start to exist when people think they are kept uninformed about issues.
Erfan Puya, Afghanistan
I don't think this jirga will affect anything along the border region unless it is fully refereed and monitored by the major powers such as US and Nato. Not only that, US and Nato must also publicly pressure Pakistan to crack down on Taleban sympathisers along the tribal belts as well as within its own government institutions. However since the international community is presently engaged with North Korea and her recent nuclear test, there is little prospect of a success for the proposed jirga.
Sunjer Nasrat, Australia
Perhaps Mr Karzai has conveniently forgotten that there is an elected Assembly in Pakistan which is representative of Pashtun tribes, this side of the border. Therefore, any dialogue should be between elected representatives, rather than outdated tribal heads, having little influence on the populace. Since his side of the Assembly is hand picked and fake, he does not seems realise the importance of involving people who really matter. The proposed jirga will only be a media show, bound to give any concrete results
MJ Iqbal, Pakistan
Is the jirga representing the people of the two countries or the parliament? The hallmark of a modern, evolved, political system - and political thought - is that we move on from a tribal system to a democratic system. Tribal systems put the tribe first as against country. For Mr Karzai to suggest a meeting like this is to undermine his own and his parliament's authority.
Reza Yahya, Pakistan
Neither Gen Musharraf nor Mr Karzai represents Pashtuns. Five years back, when Taliban were in power, they repeatedly asked the US authorities to solve the problems through negotiations but the Americans were found to use their force. Now what is going on inside Afghanistan is the clear reaction of that what happened five years ago. Pashtuns never accept the authority of outsiders, especially if you are non-Muslim. The proposed jirga will be just a failed attempt to change the Pashtun's nature.
Salman Khan, Pakistan
Pakistan will certainly manipulate any jirga to its advantages and will never be sincere in ceasing its support of the insurgencies in Afghanistan.
Aref Abassi, USA
I believe that the free world should support the call of President Karzai to hold a jirga of Pashtun tribes from Pakistan and Afghanistan to end violence. They should empower Pashtun elders on both side of the Durand Line to hold regular meetings which can eradicate terrorism and bring peace. To ask Pakistan to hold free and impartial elections in the NWFP and Baluchistan under the supervision of UN to empower Pashtuns to elect their true representatives. To facilitate free speech in Pashtun areas to counter the influence of Al-Qaeda, Pakistani ISI, local Taliban's by opening independent radios/TV channels, newspapers, and website in Pashto language.
Jahan Zeb, Canada
^ Back to top | BBC Sport Home | BBC Homepage | Contact us | Help | ©
~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~11~RS~)