Afghanistan: Divisions in central government hampers effort on new constitution

That is a finding of the International Crisis Group (ICG), a Brussels-based think tank that has been studying the problems facing Afghanistan as it tries to draft a new constitution. The ICG says rebuilding the justice system needs to be raised higher on Afghanistan’s political agenda. Two of the most powerful Islamic fundamentalists in Afghanistan – Jamiat-i-Islami leader Burhanuddin Rabbani and Itihad-i-Islami leader Abdul Rasul Sayyaf – are not members of Karzai’s Transitional Authority. But they appear to be wielding significant power over the process of drafting a new Afghan Constitution through their representatives in the government, in the constitutional committees, and within the Supreme Court.