Afghans tired of war, poll finds

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. State Department has released a poll that found most Afghans were tired of war.

The poll also found that they regard former King Zahir Shah as the leader most likely to address the country's problems and support convening a council of traditional leaders to resolve the crisis there, Reuters reports.

Because of security issues inside Afghanistan, most of which is controlled by Taliban fundamentalists who tolerate little dissent, the State Department said it could not reveal who conducted the recent poll or give other operational details.

However, the United States, which is reviewing its policy toward Afghanistan, considers the poll of 4,995 people in 27 provinces to be "relatively scientific," a State Department official said.

The men polled came from urban and rural areas, while the women were only from urban areas.

The poll results are generally consistent with the U.S. position, which is extremely critical of the Taliban and supportive of an Afghan-crafted political solution to the nation's problems.

Afghanistan has been devastated by 21 years of war and a three-year drought.

The State Department official said more than half of those Afghans questioned -- 58 percent of the men and 51 percent of the women -- thought that ending the war and reviving national unity were the most important priorities.

King lives in exile

Some 50 percent of the women polled and 46 percent of the men named Zahir Shah as the leader "who can most successfully address the problems facing Afghanistan today."

The 84-year-old former king has lived in exile for nearly three decades.

Taliban leader Mullah Omar was ranked second in the leadership stakes, with the backing of 11 percent of males and 6 percent of women.

Twenty percent of those polled responded "don't know" to the leadership question, the official said.

The results also showed that 79 percent of Afghan men and 87 percent of women support convening a "loya jirga" to resolve the country's conflict.

"Loya jirga" is a meeting called at times of national crisis or other looming national issues and involves traditional leaders from across the country.

In Kabul, the capital, the numbers were even higher: 95 percent for men and 90 percent for women.

The U.S. official asserted that the poll showed the Afghan public "does not support the Taliban and their policies and is widely supportive of subordinating differences in order to attain stability, peace and unity in Afghanistan."

The United Nations World Food Program is threatening to close down the U.N. subsidized food program in Kabul because the Taliban will not allow the U.N. agency hire women to carry out a survey to ensure that its bread is reaching those in need.