Masood, a famed anti-Soviet and anti-Taliban commander, was killed by two suicide bombers posing as journalists in northern Afghanistan two days before the September 11, 2001 terror attacks.

President Hamid Karzai appointed the commission and named Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali its chief, a presidential decree said.

A Belgian court Monday opened and immediately adjourned the trial of 12 suspects linked to the killing of Masood.

After a short court hearing under tight security, the presiding judge ruled that the trial of defendants suspected of complicity in the killing of the Northern Alliance leader would resume on May 22.

The men who killed Masood were both Tunisian nationals who had spent time in Belgium and used stolen Belgian passports.

They are alleged to have been supported in Belgium by the principal suspect in the Brussels trial, Tarek Maaroufi, as well as other Islamic fundamentalist co-defendants.

In a speech to mark the 11th anniversary of the fall of the communist regime, Karzai warned terrorists that Afghanistan could now stand up for itself.

"Those who for their own interests come to our country to inflame war and destruction, burn schools and kill our people, must know that Afghanistan is no longer crippled and has the power to defend its people and its land."

Karzai also paid homage to Masood and all those who died in the mujahedin and anti-Taliban conflicts, and called on people to work together in the struggle to reconstruct the country.

"The participation of men and women in the reconstruction jihad is an obligation of ours, the same as the jihad against the rule and invasion of aliens," he said.

A military parade in Kabul to mark the 11th anniversary of the mujahedin victory was headed by a 10-metre (30-foot) high portrait of Masood and Karzai.

"On this historic day the brave and devoted people of Afghanistan are celebrating the memories of the victory of right over wrong," said Defence Minister Marshal Mohammad Qasim Fahim, citing Masood's sacrifice.

Some foreign diplomats attended the parade between the national stadium and the city's main Eid Gah mosque. Washington cited security reasons to bar its diplomats from attending.

Karzai and Fahim were saluted by more than 3,000 ministry of defence troops, militiamen, army soldiers and police in a parade which included tanks, missiles and other military hardware.

Former king Zahir Shah, in a speech read out to the parade, exhorted his countrymen to rebuild their war-shattered nation.

"Through national unity and solidarity you can make the wishes and hopes of the martyrs come true; take part in the reconstruction of your destroyed country and I ask God to help us reach the national goals," he said.

Around 70 former mujahedin fighters, many one-legged, joined the parade which ended with traditional Afghan dancers.

Karzai is attempting to disarm some 100,000 militiamen and reintegrate them into the nascent national army or retrain them.

After communist president Najibullah was ousted by the mujahedin in 1992, the "holy warriors" continued to fight among themselves, igniting a civil war that only ended when the Taliban seized Kabul in 1996.

SPACE.WIRE