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Hamid Karzai حامد کرزي


1st President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
Incumbent
Assumed office December 22, 2001
Preceded by	Burhanuddin Rabbani

Personal details
Born	(1957-12-24) December 24, 1957 (age 67) Kandahar, Afghanistan
Political party	None
Spouse	Zeenat Karzai

Hamid Karzai (Persian and Pashto: حامد کرزي) (b. December 24, 1957) is the current President of Afghanistan (since December 7, 2004). He became the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime. 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.

Biography

Hamid Karzai, an ethnic Pashtun of the Popalzai clan of the Durrani tribe, was born in Kandahar, southern Afghanistan. He comes from a family that were supporters of the former 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 Mujahideen in Afghanistan during the Soviet intervention for the rest of the 1980s. After the fall of Najibullah's Soviet-backed government in 1992, he served as a deputy foreign minister in the government of Burhanuddin Rabbani.

In 1999, Hamid Karzai married Zeenat Karzai, an obstetrician by profession who was working as a doctor with Afghan refugees living in Pakistan. They have a son named Mirwais, who was born on January 25th, 2007.

Former Taliban Supporter

When the Taliban emerged 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.

Afghan Leader

In the months following the September 11, 2001 attacks, Mujahideen loyal to the Northern Alliance worked with the United States to overthrow the Taliban in Afghanistan and muster support for a new government. In December 2001, 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 Defense 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, fearing that it will harm the economic situation of his fellow Pashtuns in the southern tribal regions. Moreover, Karzai's younger brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, who partially helped finance Karzai's presidential campaign, is rumored to be involved in the drug trade. Although Karzai's family were quite wealthy already from owning well established restaurants in the United States. 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. Other areas, particularly the more remote ones, are currently and have historically been under the influence of various local leaders. 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.

2004 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, three living former US presidents, and U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney.

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. Karzai said terrorism is "rebounding" in his country, with militants infiltrating the borders to wage attacks on civilians. He stated, "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 the UN General Assembly, 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.

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".

In April of 2007, Karzai admitted that he spoke to the Taliban about trying to bring peace in Afghanistan. He noted that the Afghan Taliban are "always welcome" in Afghanistan, although foreign militants are not.

In May of 2007, after as many as 51 Afghan civilians were killed in a bombing, Karzai asserted that his government "can no longer accept" casualties caused by the US and NATO operations.

In June of 2007, Karzai stated that Iran is a "very close friend" of Afghanistan despite accusations of Iranian-made arms found in Afghanistan.

On June 10, 2007, the Taliban attempted to assassinate Karzai in Ghazni where Karzai was giving a speech to elders. The Taliban fired approximately 12 rockets, some of which landed 220 yards away from the crowd. Karzai was not hurt in the incident and was transported away from the location after finishing his speech.

In August of 2007, Karzai contradicted US assessments on Iran's role in Afghanistan by saying that Iran has been "a helper and a solution." Karzai added that "Iran has been a supporter of Afghanistan, in the peace process that we have and the fight against terror, and the fight against narcotics in Afghanistan..."

Criticism

Hamid Karzai received criticism from the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA), who have stated that they believe the current government has no support in most areas of Afghanistan, and that Taliban are enforcing tribal laws as they were under their rule. Karzai has also received criticism for inviting Taliban into the current government. In addition, Karzai has been criticized for his links and support to the Pashtun ethno-fascist organization Afghan Mellat.

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 22, 2005, received an honorary Doctor of Laws Degree from Boston University.
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.

Other information

This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. Please relocate any relevant information into other sections or articles. (June 2007)

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, Baltimore, Chicago and Cambridge, Massachusetts.
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. 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 .
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.