KABUL - President Hamid Karzai approved the list of the Loya Jirga participants on Sunday. The event is expected to begin on Thursday at the Polytechnic University in Kabul, with some 3,000 leaders from around the country taking part.

Abdul Khaliq Hussaini Pashaee, a spokesman of the Jirga organizing commission, said preparations for the event have been completed.

"President has approved the list of the participants of the Jirga," he said on Sunday. "There are no problems in the way of holding the Jirga, and we are ready."

Senators, MPs, provincial officials, Presidential candidates, religious scholars, tribal elders, refugees and more are expected to converge on the capital for the event this week.

One of the chief concerns for organizers of the event has been security. With so many public, religious and tribal leaders attending, the gathering would likely make a prime target for anti-government groups.

The fact the Jirga has been called to discuss the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) with the U.S., which would ensure close military relations with Washington in the years after the NATO combat mission ends in 2014, only adds to its value as a target for insurgents.

On Saturday, those concerns were realized when a suicide car bomber plowed into a security checkpoint outside the grounds of the Jirga in Kabul. The incident resulted in at least six deaths and 22 injuries, including civilians, police and military personnel.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, just hours after President Hamid Karzai had urged them to participate in the Jirga and weigh in on the BSA.

The Taliban and Hezb-e-Islami, both classified as anti-government groups, have condemned the Jirga and the security pact.

Although many think reconciliation with insurgents would be impossible if even a small amount of foreign troops stayed in Afghanistan post-2014, which is a provision of the accord, others think the Kabul regime would be doomed if entirely left to fend for itself after next year.

TOLOnews reporter Sayed Sharif Amiri spoke with a number of Kabul residents and Afghan refugees in Pakistan who were in the capital for the Jirga.

The Kabul residents were undecided on the pact, while the Afghan refugees were a bit more opinionated.

"If this agreement is not signed, Afghanistan will fall back into civil war," said Abdullah, an Afghan refugee in Pakistan in Kabul to attend the Jirga. (Tolo News)