Karzai's Judgement Questioned Over Appointments (Afghan warlords)

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Karzai's Judgement Questioned Over Appointments
IWPR
05/01/2005
By Abdul Baseer Saeed

Some are disappointed the president has given several of the warlords he has long railed against key positions in his government

Kabul - During his successful presidential campaign last year, Hamed Karzai told voters that the warlords who held sway over vast portions of the country presented a serious threat to the nation.

Many Afghans are now wondering why he has appointed so many to important positions in his present government.

Of course, technically speaking, three of Karzai's more controversial appointments - Abdul Rashid Dostum, Abdul Karim Khalili and Ismail Khan - are no longer warlords.

Dostum, the new chief of staff of the armed forces, gave up his private military leadership in mid-April. A general under the Soviet-backed regime of the Eighties, he founded the Junbish militia, which virtually ruled the northern provinces after the communist government fell in 1992.

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