21.   After six months, a loya jirga, or grand council, will convene to chose a government that will rule for two years.

22.   After that, a grand council will convene to choose a government that will rule for two years and draw up a constitution.

23.   After factional disputes delayed the start of the Afghan grand council, the assembly is falling further behind schedule.

24.   An emergency loya jirga, or grand council of prominent Afghans, would be called to prepare a constitution.

25.   At the same time, an emergency loya jirga, or grand council of prominent Afghans, would be called to approve security arrangements and prepare a constitution.

26.   Behind the politics, the loya jirga, or grand council strikes many as a rough blueprint for stitching together a unified nation.

27.   Bush telephoned Karzai en route to Houston aboard Air Force One and told the leader he was gratified by the election results in the Afghan loya jirga grand council.

28.   But in June he will convene a loya jirga, or traditional grand council, to select a transitional government to prepare the country for elections.

29.   Eight other Afghans associated with the runup to the loya jirga, or grand council, have been killed across the country this month, U.N. officials said.

30.   Former President Burhaunddin Rabbani bowed out Tuesday as a candidate for head of state during the upcoming grand council and endorsed the current interim leader Hamid Karzai.