Kabul scene
Sirajul Islam, Social sciences researcher and consultant Pisciculture Housing Society, Shyamoli, Dh
President Hamid Karzai surprised many in Kabul by entering the October presidential race with the brother of a martyred hero as his choice for vice-president, rather than his powerful defence minister. Karzai's decision to drop the defence minister, Marshal Muhammad Qasim Fahim, showed the growing divide within the government over the persistence of armed private militias, which the president has called the greatest threat to the country's nascent democracy. Fahim has the support of many of the powerful warlords and regional commanders in the north who have felt increasingly unhappy with efforts to disarm them and to reduce their power in the central government. Karzai's action was hailed by diplomats as a bold move and a message to all of the warlords to disarm and work in favour of elections. But it also showed his political vulnerabilities. Karzai's new vice-presidential nominee, Ahmed Zia Massoud, is a younger brother of Ahmed Shah Massoud, the commander of the Northern Alliance who was killed by suicide bombers on September 9, 2001, just two days before the 9/11 attack that prompted the US to invade Afghanistan. He has been serving for the past few years, however, as Afghan ambassador to Russia. The decision came after intense negotiations and heightened tension in the capital in recent days as Fahim, the defence minister, pressed hard to retain his other position as first vice-president. Immediately after Karzai's announcement, the education minister, Yunus Qanooni, announced his candidacy for president and said he was resigning from the government. He said he had the support of Fahim; the foreign minister, Abdullah Abdullah; and Massoud's younger brother, Ahmed Wali Massoud, who represent the core of the Panjshiri group, which has until now played a dominant role in Karzai's transitional administration.
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