HIGHLIGHTS: Only Top Ministers-Defence, Interior, Justice, Finance & Foreign Affairs to Be Presented to Loya Jirga||Delegates Frustrated by the Slow Pace of Proceedings||Impasse Reflects North-South Divided|| STORY: New Afghan President Hamid Karzai failed Monday to break an impasse in the Loya Jirga, or grand assembly, over forming a parliament and naming a cabinet to take the country to general elections in 18 months. (Read photo caption)

In an eagerly awaited speech to some 1,600 delegates, Karzai dodged the two issues that have paralyzed the assembly for days: composition of a legislature and the line-up of his cabinet.

An aide said later Karzai was expected to announce his top ministers -- defense, interior, justice, finance and probably foreign affairs -- to the Loya Jirga Tuesday.

"We hope a decision on the key posts will be announced tomorrow," aide Ashraf Qani Ahmadzai told a joint news conference with Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah.

Abdullah said that under the U.N.-sponsored Bonn accord that made Karzai interim leader, only top posts would be presented to the Loya Jirga for approval with the final decision on the other cabinet posts resting with Karzai.

The choice of cabinet members has been a bone of contention between Karzai and the Loya Jirga, which insists on a mandate to approve all the ministers.

It was unclear whether the Loya Jirga would vote on the senior ministers or there would simply be an announcement of Karzai's choices.

The Loya Jirga last week voted Karzai president to run the country for 18 months before general elections are held. But a decision to elect a new parliament and on the cabinet has been bogged down in heated debate.

The U.N.-sponsored assembly, which convened last Tuesday, is part of an effort to restore peace and stability after 23 years of chaos and war. But some delegates were frustrated at the pace of proceedings.

NORTH SOUTH DIVIDE EMPHASIZED

During the morning, most delegates drifted out of the big, white tent that houses the rare convocation of Afghanistan's traditional parliament, saying nothing was getting done.

A foreign ministry spokesman said delegates left the tent to take a break.

Delegates were trying to decide between an assembly based on geographic representation and one based on the Loya Jirga's composition. The issue, like so many others in Afghan society, seemed to reflect the country's north-south divide.

Ethnic minorities from northern Afghanistan support a proposal by Loya Jirga chairman Mohammad Ismail Qasimyar that each group of 10 Loya Jirga delegates nominate one Member of Parliament.

But the Pashtuns, the largest ethnic group from the south, favored another Qasimyar suggestion that two representatives from each province be chosen.

The sticking point is that no two provinces have the same size of population. Rural provinces would be better represented under the two-representatives-per-province proposal.

PHOTO CAPTION

Afghan President Hamid Karzai speaks before the Afghan Loya Jirga grand assembly June 17, 2002. Karzai wrapped up his speech without naming a new cabinet, but said he wants a new transparent government and public participation. Earlier in the day more than half of the delegates drifted out of the gathering, frustrated by the paralysis that has gripped the meeting.
(Caren Firouz/Reuters)