The council, or loya jirga, they envision would consist of 120 people chosen from the opposition Northern Alliance as well as different provinces and ethnic groups, said Abdul Sattar Sirat, a senior adviser to former King Mohammed Zahir Shah.
The announcement, which came after three days of talks in Rome between Zahir Shah and a half-dozen Northern Alliance representatives, was seen as a possible opening for an alternative Afghan government if the ruling Taliban militia is toppled by U.S. retaliation for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Opponents of the Taliban have called for convening such a council, considered by Afghans to be one of the few broadly accepted means of finding a representative government.
Monday’s announcement left the door open for the Taliban to take part in the council, which would be held in Afghanistan soon.
But the Taliban’s leader denounced the move.
In a broadcast on Taliban-run Kabul radio and monitored in the Pakistani capital, Mullah Mohammed Omar said the efforts to bring the former king into an alliance with opposition forces was destined to fail.
“They want to impose the Zahir Shah regime on us,” Omar said, referring to the Americans. “God willing, I’m sure America cannot do that.”
A representative of the Northern Alliance in Tajikistan, which borders Afghanistan, praised the agreement.
“The temporary differences between the Northern Alliance and Mohammed Zahir Shah … have been settled,” said Muhamad Salekh Registani, the military attache of the opposition alliance’s embassy in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe.
The loya jirga had been a centuries-old institution in Afghanistan. However, traditionally only the king could call such a council meeting. The former king was overthrown in 1973 by a cousin.
The ex-king’s role would be limited to convening the council.
