The skirmishes have since subsided, but demonstrators set up at least three camps and defied government orders to disband. One was at the wall of Emergency Hospital, one of the main trauma centers in the city, whose officials appealed to diplomats to persuade protesters to move away. But so far the protesters have not budged.

Despite heightened tensions, the government said it was determined to proceed with the peace conference on Tuesday, rather than be seen to be giving in to terrorism.

Mr. Ghani also rejected demands for the resignation of his national security adviser, Muhammad Hanif Atmar, who is an ethnic Pashtun, like the president. The protesters and the Jamiat party are dominated by Tajiks from the north, adding an ethnic dimension to the rallies.

The acting foreign minister, Salahuddin Rabbani, had said earlier that he would leave it to a council of the Jamiat party to decide whether he would attend the meetings. Mr. Rabbani is also the president of the Jamiat party.

No announcement was made, but Mr. Rabbani was not seen at the event on Tuesday, an embarrassment since his own ministry had organized it.

In his speech, Mr. Ghani made an impassioned appeal for international action against terrorism, equating the turmoil in his country with recent attacks by terrorists in the West.

At the funerals on Saturday, Mr. Ghani noted, one of the suicide blasts struck a man standing near the chief executive, Abdullah Abdullah, who is his partner in a coalition government.