Afghanistan's first tribal council for nearly 40 years has completed its first session, welcoming the country's former king and setting the scene for the election of a new president and government.

Afghans want an end to a nation of armed people, my greatest hope is that Afghans will have their country back

Hamid Karzai

In a speech to the meeting, known as a loya jirga, interim leader Hamid Karzai urged an end to the factional fighting which has divided Afghanistan over the last two decades.

Many delegates seemed pleased with the speech, but there was a mixed reaction when Mr Karzai praised participants in the country's civil war.

And there was dismay as a woman delegate was prevented from speaking in the last few minutes of the session.

Earlier, former king Mohammed Zahir Shah told the gathering that he wants to see the war-torn nation adopt a democratic system based on Islam.

The opening session was delayed for more than 25 hours after dissent among the delegates over who would be chosen to lead the country.

Karzai's speech mostly went down well with delegates

And the day ended as it began in confusion, as Mr Karzai appeared to misread audience applause as his election as president.

The BBC's Elizabeth Blunt says that it is easy to lose sight of the fact that this is a quite astonishing event, and almost beyond people's imagination just one year ago.

Men who fought each other for years are sitting side by side, while women - who were banned from public life under the Taleban - are taking full part in a national council for possibly the first time in history.

And our correspondent says that the loya jirga is not merely an Afghan event but a world event whose opening was broadcast live around