Looking back to a centuries-old tradition, Afghanistan is preparing a tribal meeting of hundreds of people to tackle a Taliban insurgency that is paralysing the country.
But analysts warn the "jirga" could backfire, with a chance that delegates -- likely to include tribal leaders -- will make demands that are unacceptable to the government and its international allies.
The gathering in Afghanistan and another due in Pakistan are intended to enlist support in the ethnic Pashtun belt along their border that sees the worst of the violence.
The eastern city of Jalalabad will likely be the venue for the Afghan jirga expected in December or January, Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta told AFP.
The meeting is part of the government's mission to "use all the possibilities, chances and instruments to reduce terrorist activities in Afghanistan," he said.
Up to 1,600 people were expected to attend, presidential spokesman Khaleeq Ahmad said.
They would be drawn from parliament, civil society and tribal elders, he said, with the United Nations and other international representatives asked to monitor.
President Pervez Musharraf will also be invited, reflecting the government's drive to emphasise that the Taliban problem straddles the border.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai mooted the jirgas in Washington last month amid tension between Afghanistan and Pakistan about the insurgency, with each blaming the other for not doing enough against the militants.
Pashtuns have for centuries used jirgas or tribal councils, traditionally composed of male tribal elders, to resolve internal disputes.
Weightier matters of national political import are the subject of the grander loya jirga or great council. A united Afghanistan was established at one in 1747 -- the latest decided a post-Taliban constitution in 2004.
Decisions of both are meant to be binding, but analysts say the meetings could be manipulated by pro-Taliban conservatives who could reach conclusions counter to government policy.
"If the jirga makes decisions against the presence of NATO troops in Afghanistan, or if it says the government must resign, or the parliament should be dissolved, will the Afghan government accept this?" said analyst and university lecturer Nasrullah Stanikzai.
Foreign minister Spanta said the jirga would stress "the principle of consensus" and conceded its decisions would not necessarily be binding.
Stanikzai was particularly concerned about who would attend on the Pakistan side of the border, where Afghan officials allege religious circles are recruiting and training militants sent to fight in Afghanistan.
Another analyst, Waheed Mujda, agreed.
"In Pakistani tribal regions, religious figures have replaced tribal chiefs," he said.
Karzai said in Washington he believed the jirga was "a very efficient way of preventing terrorists from cross-border activities or from trying to have sanctuaries."
This reflects a leaning towards "local solutions" to the grinding insurgency, which officials say cannot be ended through the military action under way.
They say any solution depends on grassroots support of communities, who have the power to turn in or toss out any insurgents among them.
Afghanistan and Pakistan bicker about the movement of militants across their porous border.
Islamabad says its 80,000 troops stationed there show a commitment to stopping infiltration, but Kabul is not so sure.
"From our point of view, it is very important through the organisation of this jirga to give the message to the international community and also the Afghan people that the terrorist problem in Afghanistan has an international character and an ideological character," Spanta said.
But Mujda was doubtful the jirgas would make headway against the insurgency, in which the Taliban are supported by other Islamic outfits such as Al-Qaeda and have adopted Iraq-style terror tactics and a blind anti-Western vitriol.
"This is a dream and a fantasy. It will have no outcome," he said.