By Ahmed Rashid in Kabul 12:00AM BST 13 Jun 2002 In a heady day of noise, confusion, shouting, interminable delays and poetic speeches calling for unity and peace, Afghans yesterday enjoyed their first experience of real democracy after 23 years of war. About 1,500 delegates revelled in a sometimes chaotic debate inside and outside the tent where the loya jirga , or tribal council, began to decide the future of their nation . In their speeches men and women abused almost every warlord and politician in the country, often by name, for devastating Afghanistan. The warlords and ministers sitting in the front rows heard them in stony silence. Others claimed that the Americans and other foreigners were interfering in Afghan democracy by forcing the former king, Zahir Shah, to turn down a formal post in the new administration . "We don't want the loya jirga to be a rubber stamp," said Mohammed Daud, a Pathan delegate from Kabul. &quo
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