KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- A female delegate at a landmark constitutional council was under U.N. protection after her outburst against Afghan warlords raised fears of a violent backlash, a United Nations' spokesman and other delegates said Thursday.
The controversy threatens to overshadow the work of the council, or loya jirga, which has brought together 500 delegates from across Afghanistan to debate and ratify a new constitution that will set this war-plagued country on the road to democratic elections.
Malalai Joya, a delegate from western Farah province, has been moved from the compound housing other representatives and is staying at a guarded U.N. facility, though she is still attending sessions during the day, said Nadeera Hayat Barhani, a female delegate from Balkh province.
"Last night, Malalai Joya was not in her room. She was with the United Nations," said Barhani. "She was at the loya jirga today but we can't say she is safe because she is still under the protection of the U.N."
U.N. spokesman Manoel de Almeida e Silva acknowledged that Joya was under U.N. protection but would not say where.
"Arrangements were ... made, responding to her concerns, so that she feels secure during these days that she is here in Kabul," Almeida e Silva said. "I am afraid I will not be able to disclose to you details of security measures taken, otherwise they are no longer security measures."
Joya set off controversy on Wednesday when she decried the positions of influence at the council given to faction leaders such as former President Burhanuddin Rabbani and Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, a deeply conservative Islamist.
The men, who were key participants in Afghanistan's ruinous civil war in the 1990s, have been selected as committee chairmen at the council.
"Why have you again selected as committee chairmen those criminals who have brought these disasters for the Afghan people?" Joya said. "In my opinion they should be taken to the world court."
Another female delegate, Anahika Adamir, told The Associated Press that Joya lost six family members in a rocket attack during the civil war. Adamir said Joya is being accompanied to and from the loya jirga site by U.N. personnel
Joya's comments set off a shouting match with dozens of hard-liners at the jirga, who denounced her as a communist and demanded she be removed from the session.
On Thursday, Amnesty International criticized Joya's treatment, saying she had received death threats on the floor of the assembly. They called on the council chairman, an ally of President Hamid Karzai, to ensure her right to speak.
"If delegates are threatened or otherwise prevented from expressing their views, this process of building a new future for Afghanistan will be severely threatened," the human rights group said in a statement.
There were far fewer fireworks at Thursday's jirga session, with delegates meeting behind closed doors to debate such flash-point issues as women's rights, the place of Islam in society and the structure of a future government.
The meetings were taking place amid fresh evidence that suspected Taliban rebels and their al-Qaida allies might try to attack the session. Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali said police on Wednesday night had found and deactivated a homemade bomb placed outside a Chinese restaurant in Kabul that is popular with foreigners.
Three rockets slammed into Kabul early Tuesday morning, but none landed near the site of the council or caused major damage. That night, gunmen shot a German peacekeeper as he approached them on a darkened street. His bulletproof vest protected him from injury, and the gunmen escaped.
Dozens of other rockets have been discovered around the city since the loya jirga began, but none rigged for launch, Jalali said. Anonymous notes, called "night letters," denouncing the council have been spread through several Afghan cities in recent days.
"So far there hasn't been any incident (directly targeting) the loya jirga, but there are some reports suggesting that terrorist groups want to disturb security by launching rockets and placing bombs in Kabul," said Jalali. "The enemy is trying to create fear among the people by launching rockets, exploding bombs and spreading night letters."
Security is extremely tight around the Kabul campus where the jirga is being held in an enormous tent. Thousands of soldiers line the roads, sharpshooters have taken up positions atop buildings, and all entering the site -- including delegates -- are frisked repeatedly.
