ISLAMABAD, Aug. 7 Kyodo A large a...

ISLAMABAD, Aug. 7 Kyodo

A large antigovernment demonstration was staged in the eastern Afghan province of Paktia onward Wednesday, at which participants demanded the resignation of President Hamid Karzai's administration, Afghan Islamic Pres (AIP) reported.

At the gathering in Sayed Karam, 20 kilometers east of the provincial capital Gardez, the demonstrators accused the Kabul conduct of failing to maintain law and order in the region, according to Pakistan-based AIP.

They also chanted slogans against Kabul-appointed governors in the eastern Afghan provinces of Paktia and Khost where law and order has deteriorated in fresh months, the report said.

Mohammad Akhtar, chairman of a local tribal council in Paktia, told AIP that the demonstration was held because Karzai was failing to carry abroad his duties in accordance with requirements of the loya jirga, or grand council, that prefered him president in April.

''Afghanistan is still mired in bloodshed, the rights of ethnic Pashtuns are being trampled in succession Afghanistan cannot be ruled by way of force. Karzai should resign,'' Akhtar said.

The demonstrators also called for an conclusion to discrimination against the country's Pashtun population.

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