Biographical Data His Excellency President Hamid Karzai

Hamid Karzai, named to head an interim Afghan government on December 5, 2001, is a highly influential leader, backed by large numbers of Afghans. He was educated at Himachal Pradesh University in India, speaks fluent English, and has strong support from the west. His modern political and negotiating skills, combined with significant Afghan support, give him ideal qualifications for this important position. And, he provides significant hope for bringing unity to this proud, war-torn nation. He is a strong nationalist intent on leading Afghanistan towards a better future, freeing the country from neighboring groups.

Karzai served as a deputy foreign minister in Afghanistan's first "mujahideen" government in 1992. He helped to organize one of the largest Pashtun tribes, the 500,000-strong Popolzai clan, which his father led. In a country where local ethnic and tribal groups dominate politics, Karzai receives unusually strong support. Karzai has key ties to Muhammad Zahir Shah, the former king, who envisioned building a broad-based government in Afghanistan. He also has support from Taliban members who view him as a better choice to serve Afghanistan than the leaders of the Northern Alliance, a group of ethnic Tajiks or Uzbeks.

Karzai first became known for his role in providing money and arms to the "mujahideen" during the Soviet invasion in the 1980s. He joined the war against the Soviets in 1982 and became director of operations for the Afghan National Liberation Front. After the war, he served as deputy foreign minister to the post-Soviet government which was overthrown by the Taliban in 1996.

Karzai first supported the Taliban, but as the fundamentalist group gained more power, the independent Karzai questioned the influence of foreign groups and the direction of Afghan policies. In 1995, he was offered the position as a U.N. ambassador in the Taliban government, but the independent Karzai declined and fled Afghanistan shortly afterwards for his safety.

The violence and influence of the Taliban followed Karzai. In 1999, his father, a former parliamentary deputy who once headed the Popolzai tribe, was assassinated as he returned home from prayers at the Pakistani city of Quetta. News reports widely attributed the killing to the Taliban. After his father was killed, Karzai was selected to take his father's position as head of the Popolzai tribe which has long ties to Afghanistan's kings.

As U.S. plans for air strikes in Afghanistan began, it was Karzai who urged the group of allies to purge the nation of al-Qaida and other foreign terrorists. Karzai was firm in his message carried by the BBC: "These Arabs, together with their foreign supporters and the Taliban, destroyed miles and miles of home and orchards and vineyards. They have killed Afghans. They have trained their guns on Afghan lies. And, we want them out." (BBC). It is this strength, this character that can provide a better future for the people of Afghanistan.

Karzai was born in Kandahar in 1957. He and his wife Zenat, a physician, have no children.

August 2002