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Karzai - New head of Afghanistan
The new head of Afghanistan`s interim administration is a 44-year-old tribesmen from the Taliban heartland of Kandahar, who speaks fluentEnglish, studied abroad and today is leading troops in his homeland against theIslamic militia. Bonn meet seals historic pact
The new head of Afghanistan`s interim administration is a
44-year-old tribesmen from the Taliban heartland of Kandahar, who speaks fluent
English, studied abroad and today is leading troops in his homeland against the
Islamic militia.
Hamid Karzai, equally comfortable in a suit and tie as in a turban and shalwar kameez, initially supported the creation of the Taliban in 1994 as an alternative to the lawlessness of the warlords who ruled his native Kandahar. In 1995 the Taliban approached Karzai to be their permanent representative at the UN. But by then he was disillusioned by the religious movement because he said it had been hijacked by neighboring Pakistan. Until the Sept. 11 attacks in the US, Pakistan was the Taliban`s strongest ally.
On Oct. 7, US President George W. Bush ordered air strikes against Afghanistan after the Taliban refused to hand over Osama bin Laden and leaders of his al-Qaeda network in connection with the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The Taliban fled the city on Nov. 13, driven southward by Northern Alliance soldiers who rumbled into Kabul in the wake of relentless bombing of Taliban frontlines by the US-led coalition.
While the Northern Alliance was taking control of Kabul, Karzai was in south-central Uruzgan province with heavily armed forces moving slowly toward Kandahar, negotiating with local people to abandon the Taliban and join his forces. In a satellite telephone interview Monday, Karzai said he wanted the Taliban`s defeat in Kandahar to be a negotiated one that avoided bloodshed. Karzai often accused the religious militia of being manipulated by neighboring Pakistan, with whom he had a complicated relationship. While Pakistan allowed Karzai to maintain his headquarters in its southwestern Baluchistan province, the two sparred regularly.
A fierce nationalist, Karzai often accused his fellow tribesmen of being pawns in a greater game being played out by Afghanistan`s neighbors, specifically Pakistan. He charged Afghanistan`s neighbors used his homeland for their own purposes, Pakistan to train militants to fight in Indian-ruled Kashmir; Russia to maintain a grip on its Central Asian states.
Karzai was born Dec. 24, 1957, into one of southern Afghanistan`s most powerful tribes, the Popolzai. The city of Kandahar, the spiritual headquarters of the Taliban, was built in 1761 on land given to King Ahmed Shah Durrani by the Popolzai.
Karzai`s father, who was chief of the Popolzai tribe, was assassinated in the Pakistani city of Quetta. The killers were never caught. Karzai became Afghanistan`s deputy foreign minister when the Islamic insurgents fighting occupying Soviet soldiers took power from the pro-Moscow regime in 1992.
The rebel government, led by Burhanuddin Rabbani, the current de facto ruler of Afghanistan, fought bitterly among themselves, destroying large sections of the city and killing 50,000 civilians. Karzai left Rabbani`s government in the first years, disillusioned by the bickering between the groups.
In the early years of the rebel government, Karzai asked Rabbani and his regime, which was largely run by minority Tajiks, to incorporate more ethnic Pashtuns, Afghanistan`s largest ethnic group.
The Taliban movement which began in southern Kandahar, originally to end the lawlessness brought by the warlords who ruled, were mostly ethnic Pashtuns.
According to the Northern Alliance foreign minister, Dr. Abdullah, the members of the interim administration will be chosen according to the ethnic breakdown in Afghanistan.
Bureau Report
Hamid Karzai, equally comfortable in a suit and tie as in a turban and shalwar kameez, initially supported the creation of the Taliban in 1994 as an alternative to the lawlessness of the warlords who ruled his native Kandahar. In 1995 the Taliban approached Karzai to be their permanent representative at the UN. But by then he was disillusioned by the religious movement because he said it had been hijacked by neighboring Pakistan. Until the Sept. 11 attacks in the US, Pakistan was the Taliban`s strongest ally.
On Oct. 7, US President George W. Bush ordered air strikes against Afghanistan after the Taliban refused to hand over Osama bin Laden and leaders of his al-Qaeda network in connection with the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The Taliban fled the city on Nov. 13, driven southward by Northern Alliance soldiers who rumbled into Kabul in the wake of relentless bombing of Taliban frontlines by the US-led coalition.
While the Northern Alliance was taking control of Kabul, Karzai was in south-central Uruzgan province with heavily armed forces moving slowly toward Kandahar, negotiating with local people to abandon the Taliban and join his forces. In a satellite telephone interview Monday, Karzai said he wanted the Taliban`s defeat in Kandahar to be a negotiated one that avoided bloodshed. Karzai often accused the religious militia of being manipulated by neighboring Pakistan, with whom he had a complicated relationship. While Pakistan allowed Karzai to maintain his headquarters in its southwestern Baluchistan province, the two sparred regularly.
A fierce nationalist, Karzai often accused his fellow tribesmen of being pawns in a greater game being played out by Afghanistan`s neighbors, specifically Pakistan. He charged Afghanistan`s neighbors used his homeland for their own purposes, Pakistan to train militants to fight in Indian-ruled Kashmir; Russia to maintain a grip on its Central Asian states.
Karzai was born Dec. 24, 1957, into one of southern Afghanistan`s most powerful tribes, the Popolzai. The city of Kandahar, the spiritual headquarters of the Taliban, was built in 1761 on land given to King Ahmed Shah Durrani by the Popolzai.
Karzai`s father, who was chief of the Popolzai tribe, was assassinated in the Pakistani city of Quetta. The killers were never caught. Karzai became Afghanistan`s deputy foreign minister when the Islamic insurgents fighting occupying Soviet soldiers took power from the pro-Moscow regime in 1992.
The rebel government, led by Burhanuddin Rabbani, the current de facto ruler of Afghanistan, fought bitterly among themselves, destroying large sections of the city and killing 50,000 civilians. Karzai left Rabbani`s government in the first years, disillusioned by the bickering between the groups.
In the early years of the rebel government, Karzai asked Rabbani and his regime, which was largely run by minority Tajiks, to incorporate more ethnic Pashtuns, Afghanistan`s largest ethnic group.
The Taliban movement which began in southern Kandahar, originally to end the lawlessness brought by the warlords who ruled, were mostly ethnic Pashtuns.
According to the Northern Alliance foreign minister, Dr. Abdullah, the members of the interim administration will be chosen according to the ethnic breakdown in Afghanistan.
Bureau Report