President Obama says Thursday's meeting is the largest gathering of tribal leaders in U.S.history.

VOA: standard.2009.11.05

The attack,on Revolutionary Guard commanders and Sunni and Shi'ite tribal leaders gathering for a reconciliation meeting, was among the most brazen in the Islamic Republic in years.

VOA: standard.2009.10.19

The CIA facility was located opposite to the Waziristan tribal region and was reportedly playing a key role in gathering intelligence information to guide U.S.unmanned spy planes to launch drone strikes on al-Qaida and Afghan militants hiding on the Pakistani side of the border.

VOA: standard.2010.01.09

The ISAF is crucial to the country's stability in the run-up to the loya jirga, or tribal gathering, in June that will determine who will lead the country in the two years until elections are held.

ECONOMIST: America to the rescue? | The

He refrained from doing so even when he was presented with strong evidence that an attack on a tribal gathering he convened in Kabul in June was carried out by the Haqqani network, one of the three leading insurgent groups, which has close links to Pakistan's intelligence service.

ECONOMIST: Rumours fly as Karzai talks to Pakistan

Now, three years ago, I was proud to see that this conference was the largest gathering of tribal leaders in our history.

WHITEHOUSE: Remarks by The President at the Tribal Nations Conference