By Sanjoy Majumder BBC correspondent in Kabul

Questions have been raised about representation in the loya jirga

Members of the Independent Constitution Drafting Commission said the criticism from the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) was unfair and ill-informed.

The ICG had said in a report that the process favoured certain factions and called for the loya jirga - or grand assembly - planned for next year to be replaced by elections.

Draft commission members said if the current process was abandoned it would lead to chaos.

Bonn Agreement

One major ICG criticism was that the draft constitution process favoured factions already in power.

We have historically believed [the loya jirga] to be a place where Afghans come together to solve problems Fatima Gailani, commission member

But one commissioner - former judge and law professor Mohammad Ashraf Rasooli - rejected as baseless the claims that the commission was unrepresentative.

It included Pashtuns, Hazaras, a Panjshiri Tajik and other ethnic groups, he said.

Commission leader Qazi Mohammad Amin Waqad said members were following the process set out in the 2001 Bonn Agreement.

The agreement says the loya jirga must be held by January 2004, with elections in the same year.

Mr Waqad said the process had to be followed "otherwise there is a danger of there being a power vacuum".

Security measures

Another commission member, Fatima Gailani, said: "We are talking to people from the universities to ordinary people on the street. Everyone who wants to be involved can contribute."

She admitted the commission was "not perfect" but added: "Our country is not in a perfect situation. It's a very difficult situation after 24 years of war."

Mr Waqad fears a power vacuum if the process is not followed

Ms Gailani said the ICG calls for elections instead of the loya jirga were absurd, saying there was no one to regulate or legitimise such polls.

The commission said it had taken security measures to ensure views were collected in a democratic way.

"We are employing special techniques to solicit people's opinions in a secure environment," said committee member Mohammad Siddiq Patman.

"No local police will be used, only federal police. Questionnaires being distributed will be filled in anonymously - there is no fear of local commanders exerting influence," he said.

Current plans for the loya jirga involve selecting a group of delegates from last year's emergency meeting that installed Hamid Karzai as president of a transitional administration.

The ICG said the selection process was not transparent and would undermine any credibility the new loya jirga might have.

But Ms Gailani said: "We have historically believed [the loya jirga] to be a place where Afghans come together to solve problems.

"If international organisations believe there is a problem of representation in the loya jirga, let them put pressure on the government to bring about better representation instead of stopping the whole thing."

UN officials in Afghanistan have also rejected the ICG report.