Kabul, Afghanistan ? Afghanistan’s former president bowed out of the race for head of state shortly before the opening of a grand council to choose a new government Tuesday, removing the last major challenger to interim leader Hamid Karzai.

The council, or loya jirga, convened Tuesday afternoon in a huge, carpeted, air conditioned tent, where the 1,550 delegates are to choose a new government to lead the nation from the devastation of war.

“Today, the 11th of June 2002, in Kabul, the capital, the heart of Afghanistan, we have a message _ a message of national unity, a message of peace, a message of reconstruction,” Chairman Ismail Qasim Yar said in welcoming remarks. “We are hoping this loya jirga, with unity and shared hearts, can solve the problems that have faced our land for 23 years.”

The session was then suspended for about a half hour until the arrival of the aged, former king, Mohammad Zaher Shah, who formally convened the loya jirga.

“I’m here to do a service after long years of being away,” Zaher Shah in a soft voice barely audible as he sat at a table flanked by Afghan flags. “By the will of God, after 29 years of exile, I am back in my country with my nation.”

Zaher Shah urged the delegates to work “for the unity and independence of Afghanistan.”

“My only wish is to bring peace in the country, national unity, reconciliation and to take the nation back to peace and integrity,” he said.

Hours before the council convened, Burhanuddin Rabbani, president of post-communist Afghan governments, said he was withdrawing his candidacy for head of state and supporting Karzai.

“I am proposing Chairman Karzai as the sole candidate before the loya jirga,” Rabbani told reporters.

On Monday, Zaher Shah renounced any role in the new government and backed Karzai, dashing hopes of some delegates that he would stand for head of state.

The ethnic Tajik clique that dominates the current administration opposed any role for the king, and their objections to his possible candidacy forced a one-day delay in the start of the loya jirga.

Rabbani is an ethnic Tajik. It appeared that deals had been cut for him and Zaher Shah, an ethnic Pashtun, to step aside, possibly in exchange for posts for their allies in the new government.

“We came into Kabul as warriors, as conquerors. We had full control of the city,” Rabbani said, referring to the takeover of Kabul by his northern alliance fighters in November. “But we made concessions then for the best interest of the country. And now we do this again.”

He said he expected to play a role in helping the new head of state choose a Cabinet.

Selection of a head of state was among the first orders of business for the 1,550 delegates _ representing all aspects of Afghan society. The government they will choose must write a new constitution and oversee preparations for nationwide elections.

Security was tight, with international peacekeepers inside and outside the massive air conditioned tent set up for the meeting. Delegates filtered in from nearby dormitories to the 1,500 cushioned, metal-framed chairs in the tent, which rattled uncontrollably in a strong wind.

Two big-screen TV were ready to provide live coverage.

However, the last-minute politicking and dealmaking left many delegates disillusioned, feeling that the selection of leaders had been scripted in advance by the outgoing leadership under pressure from the United States.

Special U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad said Monday there must be significant changes in the leadership if a new government is to win broad support.

Khalilzad urged all ethnic groups to put aside past rivalries and use the loya jirga to form a broad-based government. He said “significant” changes must occur for the transitional government to be accepted by most Afghans.

However, some delegates complained that outsiders were usurping their authority.

“It is for us to decide what role the king has,” said an Afghan delegate to the loya jirga who uses only one name, Mirwais. “If we want or don’t want the king, it is for us to decide and then the king can say whether he accepts or not.”

A European diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity that people feel their rights have been taken away from them.

The announcement by Zaher Shah hit many delegates especially hard. The 87-year-old former monarch returned here in April from 29 years in exile and was widely seen as a unifying figure.

“It’s not just Pashtuns, it is Tajiks, Uzbeks and Hazaras who want the king because all these other leaders are fighters. They are the reason why our country has been destroyed,” said Kabul resident Eid Mohammed.

Like the ex-king, Karzai is a Pashtun, Afghanistan’s majority ethnic group and the core of the Taliban’s support. Many Pashtuns complain of discrimination since the Tajik-dominated northern alliance took Kabul.

Amanullah Zardaran, a pro-king delegate, claims 90 percent of Afghans want the king.

“In the past 23 years we’ve had all these different people rule us and there’s been only bloodshed,” he said. “Maybe we should have the king to bring peace and unify us.”