Women at the Loya Jirga

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The female participants, who have never before been allowed to participate in a loya jirga in such numbers, have impressed many observers by putting aside tribal and ethnic differences to work together -- unlike most of the male delegates.

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Masooda Jalal, a 35-year-old female physician for the World Food Program, won both sympathy and admiration by demanding at the opening ceremony that her candidacy for head of state be officially recognized. She is currently the only competitor to interim leader Hamid Karzai to head the transition government that delegates will choose this week to lead the country until elections in 2004. ''

- San Francisco Chronicle