It comes from those Western nations – stand up, all of us – who have promised to fund, through him, the regeneration of Afghanistan.The gang leaders of Afghanistan have agreed to let Mr Karzai remain leader of the next interim government. But at present, those same mafia bosses are running many of the major cities of Afghanistan. Humanitarian organisations and charities are, in many cases, still forced to funnel their aid through these ruthless men, in Mazar-i-Sharif, in Nangahar province, in Khost. Voters in the forthcoming elections know that their humanitarian aid comes via the warlords.So who will they vote for in parliamentary elections? Mr Karzai is trying to form the country’s first non-sectarian political group – allegedly with the brother of Ahmed Shah Masood, the Tajik leader murdered two days before the 11 September atrocities in the United States And loya jirgas have their uses.

While by no means pliant, the British used them to maintain their control of Afghanistan in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The wretched President Nadjibullah – he who was emasculated and then strangled by the Taliban in 1996 – persuaded two loya jirgas to keep him in power.So with American money behind him, Mr Karzai may have a good chance to go on leading Afghanistan – at least for the moment.. Afghans of every tribe, region and political hue have been streaming towards Kabul for one of the strangest, most colourful and most crucial political gatherings of recent years. As many as 2,000 delegates – 500 more than were strictly invited – have descended on the sprawling Polytechnic university campus in the outskirts of the Afghan capital for the first full-scale tribal assembly, or Loya Jirga, to be summoned since 1973, and the biggest ever. Proceedings could yet be delayed, if only by a day, to accommodate the stragglers Nor is it known how long it will last. Officially, it concludes next Sunday, but it could end earlier (if reports of pre-assembly political horse-trading are correct), or later (if agreement proves elusive).The first delegates began arriving last Thursday. Many, from the furthest outlying provinces, came by specially chartered planes and helicopters.

Others travelled in buses, in the back of dilapidated lorries, even on horseback. Many had never flown before; others were leaving their home provinces and seeing the war-scarred capital for the first time in their lives.Their “home” for the next week, or however long it takes, will be the old Kabul Polytechnic buildings, hastily patched up by German troops with UN money. A giant white tent, air-conditioned against the summer heat – of the sort used for Munich beer festivals and also donated by the Germans – provides the assembly hall. Serried ranks of institutional seating were already in place at the end of last week; modern conference facilities, including CCTV and translation, have been installed.Morocco has given four smaller tents, adorned with intensely patterned carpets and cushions, where delegates will eat, drink (green tea and soft drinks) and mix socialising with political horse-trading. Yesterday, delegates strolled around outside, or reclined in the shade of walls or trees, sipping tea, as they waited to have their credentials checked, their photos taken and their green plastic delegates’ badges issued.