KABUL, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Afghan government is ready to convene the traditional Loya Jirga, or grand assembly of chieftains and elders, within weeks to discuss the ways and means on how to bring the Taliban into negotiating table and bolster the national reconciliation process in the war-battered country.
"The Loya Jirga with the participation of about 2,000 people from across the country will be inaugurated on March 17 with the speech of president Ghani and would be concluded on March 20," Mohammad Omar Daudzai, head of secretariat of the government-backed peace body - the High Peace Council (HPC), told reporters on Sunday.
Daudzai, who is also the special envoy of President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani on ensuring regional consensus for peace in Afghanistan, added that 1,100 people out of some 2,000 would represent the country's 34 provinces at the Jirga and 900 others come from the lawyers community, civil society and private sectors.
