KABUL, Dec. 19 (Xinhuanet) -- Afghan president Hamid Karzai formally inaugurated the maiden session of the country's first-ever parliament amid tight security here on Monday.

    In his opening remarks, the President described it as a historic day and congratulated to the war-weary Afghans.

    Convened in a renovated parliament house, the president urged the legislators to work for the betterment of the people of their war-battered land.

    Majority of the 351 members of the two-chamber house are the former foes who fought against each other for power and were involved in the past 25 years of war, civil strife and imposing Taliban's strict and authoritarian rule in major parts of the country.

    A number of foreign delegates including US Vice President Deck Cheney have attended the parliament session to represent their governments.

    As a precautionary measure, all the roads leading to the parliament house as well as important government building have been closed and the vehicles entering the city are thoroughly checked.

    Afghan troops and police backed by the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and the US-dominated coalition forces stationed in sensitive areas in the city besides patrollingthe streets to prevent any untoward incident.

    Remnants of the former Taliban regime who vowed to oust the government of President Karzai and evict foreign troops by Jihad or holy war have threatened to sabotage the parliament procession.

    As part of their threat, the militants on Friday committed a suicide attack on the ISAF troops near the parliament building killing self and wounding two passers by.

    Six persons including three policemen have been killed in the latest wave of Taliban attacks since early weekend.

    Taliban-led insurgency has claimed the lives of over 1,500 people including some 80 American soldiers since beginning this year. Enditem