Afghanistan's first popularly elected parliament in more than three decades convened Monday, marking a major step toward democracy following the ouster of Taliban. U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney flew in to attend the opening session, which was held under intense security. The session began with a reading from the Quran, the national anthem and a folk song by schoolgirls dressed in brightly colored robes. After the delegates were sworn in, President Hamid Karzai called the gathering a display of Afghan unity. "This gathering shows that all of the people of Afghanistan are unified," Karzai said. "This is an important step toward democracy." The Associated Press quoted Karzai as saying that the approval of a constitution and the establishment of the National Assembly "bring us all under one roof to discuss our problems."
