Loya jirga's chairman Sibghatullah Mujaddedi, (R), talks with female delegates (AFP)

KABUL, January 4 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Afghanistan's grand assembly, loya jirga, Sunday, January 4, adopted the country's first post-Taliban constitution, state television showed.

"I invite you to stand up in a sign of approval of the new constitution," loya jirga chairman Sebghatullah Mujadadi said, prompting the 502 delegates to stand up from their seats.

The assembly has reached earlier in the day agreement on the new constitution after three weeks of divisive debate, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"It is an opportunity for great pride and happiness that members of the loya jirga (grand assembly) came to a total agreement on the constitution," chairman Sebghatullah Mujadadi told the 502 delegates.

The 160-article document, which will pave the way for Afghanistan's first democratic elections later this year, approves a presidential form of government as favored by President Hamid Karzai.

The document says that no law shall be contrary to the beliefs and practices of Islam and states that men and women have equal rights and duties.

Under the historic document, Dari and Pashtu have been approved as official languages, but other ethnic minority languages will also be considered official languages in the areas in which they are spoken.

The issue of official languages has been one of the most divisive for the delegates, with ethnic minorities such as the Uzbeks fearing they would be sidelined by the new constitution.

Also under the provisions of the new constitution, the presidential system favored by President Karzai has been approved but with two vice-presidents instead of one as was originally proposed.

Afghan ministers will also only be allowed to hold one passport, but those ministers or potential ministers who possess dual citizenship will have their candidacies considered by the parliament.

Describing Afghanistan as an "Islamic republic" with Islam as the nation's "sacred religion," the 12-chapter constitution enhances both Islam as the religion of the state and democracy as the backbone of the governance system.

Although the king has remained a popular figure in Afghanistan despite spending almost three decades in exile since he was ousted in a coup, the constitution offered no active role for the royal family.

Instead the power rests mainly with the president - a Muslim born to Afghan parents - who would be directly elected by the Afghan people for a five-year term, with a maximum of two presidential terms.

The loya jirga has been meeting under tight security in the Afghan capital of Kabul, since December 14.

It was originally due to end on December 25. Most of the draft constitution had already been approved without opposition, with delegates down to resolving only a handful of issues via a reconciliation committee.