Hamid Karzai
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| Hamid Karzai حامد کرزي |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office December 22, 2001 |
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| Preceded by | Mohammed Omar |
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| Succeeded by | Incumbent |
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| Born | December 24, 1957 (age 49) Kandahar, Afghanistan |
| Political party | None |
| Spouse | Zeenat Karzai |
| Religion | Sunni Muslim |
Hamid Karzai (Pashto: حامد کرزي (b. December 24, 1957) is the current President of Afghanistan (since December 7, 2004). Since the defeat of the Taliban he has been the dominant Afghan political figure. From December 2001, Hamid Karzai had been the Chairman of the Transitional Administration and then the Interim President from 2002 until he won the 2004 Presidential election.
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[edit] Biography
Hamid Karzai, an ethnic Pashtun of the influential Popalzai tribe, was born in Kandahar, Afghanistan. He comes from a family that were among the strongest supporters of King Zahir Shah.
He took a postgraduate course in political science at Himachal University in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India from 1979 to 1983, then returned to work as a fund-raiser supporting anti-Soviet uprisings in Afghanistan during the Soviet intervention for the rest of the 1980s. After the fall of Najibullah's government in 1992, he served as a deputy foreign minister in the government of Burhanuddin Rabbani.
He married Zeenat Karzai, an obstetrician by profession in Pakistan in 1999, when she was working as a doctor with Afghan refugees and he was living there in exile. They have a son named Mirwais born on January 25th 2007 and named after a former Afghan king.[1]
[edit] Former Taliban
When the Taliban emerged onto the political scene in the 1990s, Karzai was initially among their supporters. However, as with many other early Taliban supporters, he broke with the Taliban, citing distrust of their links to Pakistan. After the Taliban drove Rabbani out of Kabul in 1996, Karzai refused to serve as their U.N. ambassador. Karzai lived in exile in Quetta, Pakistan where he worked to reinstate Zahir Shah. His father was assassinated, presumably by Taliban agents, on July 14, 1999, and Karzai swore revenge against the Taliban by working to help overthrow them.
[edit] Afghan Leader
In the months following the September 11, 2001 attacks, forces loyal to Karzai together with Mujahideen loyal to the Afghan Northern Alliance worked with the United States to overthrow the Taliban in Afghanistan and muster support for a new government. In December 2001, Afghan political leaders gathered in Bonn, Germany, to agree on new leadership structures. Under the December 5 Bonn Agreement they formed an interim Transitional Administration and named Karzai Chairman of a 29-member governing committee. He was sworn-in as leader on December 22. The Loya Jirga of June 19, 2002 appointed Karzai Interim holder of the new position as President of the Afghan Transitional Administration.
Karzai's actual authority outside the capital city of Kabul was said to be so limited that he was often derided as the "Mayor of Kabul". Former members of the Northern Alliance remained extremely influential, most notably Vice President Mohammed Fahim, who also served as Defence Minister.
On September 5, 2002, an assassination attempt was made on Hamid Karzai in Kandahar. A gunman wearing the uniform of the new Afghan National Army opened fire, wounding the Governor of Kandahar and an American Special Operations officer. The gunman, one of the President's bodyguards, and a bystander who knocked down the gunman were killed when Karzai's bodyguards returned fire.
In 2004 he rejected a US proposal to end poppy production in Afghanistan through aerial spraying of chemical herbicides, possibly fearing that he may alienate some warlords who are less hostile to his administration or who support him conditionally. Moreover, Karzai's younger brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, who helped finance Karzai's presidential campaign, is involved in the drug trade. [1] The situation is particularly delicate since Karzai and his administration have not been equipped either financially or politically to influence reforms outside of the region around the capital city of Kabul. President Karzai has repeatedly turned a blind eye to his brother's illegal activities. Other areas, particularly the more remote ones, are currently and have historically been under the influence of various warlords. Karzai has been, to varying degrees of success, attempting to negotiate and form amicable alliances with them for the benefit of Afghanistan as a whole, instead of aggressively fighting them and putting the entire nation at jeopardy of a full blown civil war.
[edit] 2004 Afghan Presidential election
Karzai was a candidate in the October 9, 2004 presidential elections. He won 21 of the 34 provinces, defeating his 22 opponents and became the first democratically elected leader of Afghanistan.
As incumbent president Karzai held high name recognition among voters, and was admired by his supporters for his steady leadership during an uncertain post-war period. Other contributing factors to his win may have included his endorsement by US President George W. Bush's administration, the use of US Army transport during his election campaign, the brief one-month campaign season as well as the paucity of news coverage in the country about his opponents. Although his campaigning was limited due to fears of violence, elections passed without significant incident. Following investigation by the UN of alleged voting irregularities, the national election commission on November 3 declared Karzai winner, without runoff, with 55.4% of the vote. This represented 4.3 million of the total 8.1 million votes cast.
Karzai was officially sworn in as President of Afghanistan on December 7, 2004 at a formal ceremony in Kabul. Many interpreted the ceremony as a symbolically important "new start" for the war-torn nation. Notable guests at the inauguration included the country's former King, Zahir Shah, Afghanistan's three living former presidents, and U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney.
[edit] President of Afghanistan
After winning a democratic mandate in the election and removing many of the former Northern Alliance warlords from his cabinet, many thought that Karzai would pursue a more aggressively reformist path in 2005. However Karzai has proved to be more cautious than was expected, even going as far as to fire his Finance Minister, who was the most visible reformer.
At least 28 Battalions of the Afghan Army are now capable of combat operations, with more in training. The Afghan Economy has been growing rapidly for the first time in years and government revenue is increasing, although it still relies completely on foreign aid. An attempt on Karzai's life took place on September 16, 2004 when a rocket missed the helicopter he was riding to Gardez, where Karzai planned to open a school.
On September 20, 2006 he told the United Nations General Assembly that Afghanistan has become the "worst victim" of terrorism. [2] Karzai said terrorism is "rebounding" in his country, with militants infiltrating the borders to wage attacks on civilians. This does not have its seeds alone in Afghanistan. Military action in the country will, therefore, not deliver the shared goal of eliminating terrorism. He demanded assistance from the international community to destroy terrorist sanctuaries inside and outside Afghanistan. You have to "look beyond Afghanistan to the sources of terrorism," he told and "destroy terrorist sanctuaries beyond" the country, dismantle the elaborate networks in the region that recruit, indoctrinate, train, finance, arm, and deploy terrorists. These activities are also robbing thousands of Afghan children of their right to education, and prevent health workers from doing their jobs in Afghanistan. In addition he promised to eliminate opium-poppy cultivation in the country, which helps fuel the ongoing insurgency. He has repeatedly demanded that NATO and U.S.-led coalition forces take more care when conducting military operations in residential areas to avoid civilian casualties, which undermine his government's already weak standing in parts of the country.[2]
In a video broadcast on September 24 Karzai said that if the money spent on the Iraq War went to Afghanistan, his country would "be in heaven in less than one year".[3]
[edit] Criticism
Hamid Karzai received criticism from a rights group, Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA), who charge that the current government has no support in most areas of Afghanistan, and that fundamentalists are enforcing misogynistic laws as they were under the Taliban.[4]
[edit] Awards and honorary degrees
- The Philadelphia Liberty Medal for 2004.
- Honorary British Knight (Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George) in 2003.
- An honorary doctorate in literature from Himachal University in India, his alma mater, on March 7, 2003.
- On May 25, 2005, received an honorary degree from the Center for Afghan Studies at the University of Nebraska — Omaha.
- On September 25, 2006, received an honorary Doctor of Laws Degree from Georgetown University.
[edit] Other information
- Karzai is well-versed in several languages, including Pashto, Persian, Urdu, Hindi, English and French.
- Karzai's family owned a small chain of fine-cuisine Afghani restaurants in the United States. One each, under the name of "Helmand", exists in San Francisco[3], Baltimore[4], Chicago and Cambridge, Massachusetts[5].
- Several sources, most notably the film Fahrenheit 9/11, have reported that Karzai once worked as a consultant for the oil company Unocal. Spokesmen for both Unocal and Karzai have denied any such relationship, although Unocal could not speak for all companies involved in the consortium. [6] [7] The claim appears to have originated in the December 9, 2001 issue of the French newspaper Le Monde. It was also stated by the Christian Science Monitor [8].
- In December 2001, Karzai survived a "friendly fire" missile attack when the batteries gave out on the GPS device of a member of Karzai's group.
- On May 21, 2005, he was denied permission to throw a ceremonial first pitch at a Boston Red Sox game (despite the reluctance of officials and citizens who were looking forward to welcoming him, and who had worked to ensure his safety) at Fenway Park, due to security and logistical concerns.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ BBC News Link
- ^ "Civilians reported killed by airstrikes as NATO hunts Taliban" October 19, 2006 accessed 19 October 2006.
- ^ MSNBC...Link
- ^ RAWA...Link
[edit] External links
- President of Afghanistan - Official website
- Afghanistan - Official website
- CNN - Karzai inaugurated in Kabul
Opinion Editorials, August 2004, www.aljazeerah.info
[edit] Contact
President Hamid Karzai
Gul Khana Palace
Presidential Palace
Kabul
AFGHANISTAN
| Modern Leaders of Afghanistan |
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 Emirate of Afghanistan, Emirs: Amanullah Khan • Inayatullah Khan • Habibullah Ghazi
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| Preceded by Mohammed Omar |
Head of the Transitional State of Afghanistan December 2001 – December 2004 President of Afghanistan December 2004 – present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
