| Profile: Hamid Karzai BBC
07/10/2004
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Since Hamid Karzai was chosen to head Afghanistan's interim government in December 2001, he has survived an assassination attempt and infighting among ethnic groups to carve out a reputation as a shrewd statesman. But during his time in charge, it has been clear the problems facing Mr Karzai, 46, have not eased. His critics say he has little control of events much beyond the capital, Kabul, where the country's ethnic warlords again hold sway. Rebuilding the army and disarming warlords are among his top priorities And since last summer, violence by militants opposed to the US-backed administration he runs has sharply risen - with many of their attacks targeting election workers and voters. The political horse-trading may have tarnished his image with some Afghans Mr Karzai is also still trying to get his hands on money pledged by international donors to reconstruct the country following the rule of the Taleban. Pashtun After coming to power over two years ago, Mr Karzai, a powerful Pashtun leader from the Taleban's former stronghold of Kandahar, wasted no time in carving out a high profile at home and abroad. He swept on to the international stage in January 2002 at an international donor's conference in Tokyo, where he managed to persuade donors to pledge more than $4bn to help rebuild Afghanistan. He then embarked on a tour of world capitals. Well educated, Westernised and stylish, Mr Karzai was feted by foreign governments. That culminated with being awarded an honorary knighthood by Britain's Queen Elizabeth in a ceremony at Windsor Castle in June last year. Mr Karzai quickly managed to build up considerable support at home, partly a tribute to his diplomatic skills, but also because many ordinary Afghans were disillusioned with the warlords who had returned to rule them.
Correspondents say that as a royalist Pashtun from the south, he was accepted in a way few Northern Alliance ethnic minority leaders would be. And, they say, his record as an anti-Soviet combatant served him well with former mujahideen followers.
Mr Karzai has long supported plans to build a broad-based government.
He first began lobbying for this after slipping into Afghanistan from Pakistan - where his family had lived in exile for some years - in October 2001. At the time, US forces were carrying out military operations against the Taleban in Afghanistan. When the news leaked to the Taleban that Mr Karzai was back in the country, they raided his hideout and set off in pursuit of him. He was rescued by US helicopters and special forces. He is said to have played a key role in helping to oust the Taleban from their final stronghold of Kandahar in December 2001. Horse-trading By the time a United Nations-sponsored conference met to set up an interim government for Afghanistan, Mr Karzai had strong American backing and was clearly being groomed for leadership. Mr Karzai's critics have accused him of being an American stooge - particularly after the way in which the US intervened ahead of a second loya jirga in June 2002 to announce that the former king would not oppose Mr Karzai as a candidate for head of state. The political horse-trading may have tarnished his image with some Afghans. He has always faced great pressure to appear not to favour one faction over the other - nor to appear too beholden to the Americans.
That task was not eased by the clear need to upgrade security around the president following the assassination attempt on him by suspected Taleban members in Kandahar in September 2002.
Nevertheless, Mr Karzai pressed on with proposals for Afghans to take a greater role in security. Efforts are under way to build a 70,000-strong national army - a force Mr Karzai says will be loyal solely to his government and the only legal army Afghanistan will recognise. Rebuilding the army and disarming warlords are among his top priorities. He has also sought to tighten the screw on the regions by forging an agreement with powerful governors to hand over hundreds of millions of dollars in taxation to the central government. Last year, Mr Karzai threatened to resign if he did not get his way. Grassroots concerns He then had to use his diplomatic powers to soothe a rift with Pakistan after the Pakistani embassy in Kabul was ransacked by Afghans. They were angry at alleged Pakistani border incursions. Mr Karzai cooled the tension by telling Pakistan the attackers were enemies of peace and stability in the country and promised to give compensation. However, analysts say there is grassroots unrest at continuing lack of security for ordinary Afghans. Many believe not enough has been done to extend security beyond Kabul and that the Americans are too intent on only pursuing al-Qaeda. And in Kabul, incidents such as the bulldozing of poor homes in August to make way for luxury accommodation for ministers have not helped matters. Anti-Soviet Mr Karzai was born on 24 December 1957 in Kandahar. After being educated in Kabul, the fluent English speaker went to university in Simla, India. In 1982, he joined the struggle against the Soviets and became director of operations of the Afghan National Liberation Front (ANLF). When the Taleban erupted on to Afghanistan's political scene in the early 1990s, Mr Karzai initially supported them. However, by late 1994 he had become suspicious of the movement, fearing it had been infiltrated and was controlled by foreigners, including Pakistanis and Arabs. That led him on the path which resulted in him leading his country following the Taleban's fall.
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