<http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;sessionid=UPG2PEAN3OYF5QFIQMGCM54AVCBQUJVC?xml=/news/2004/12/24/wafg24.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/12/24/ixworld.html>
The Telegraph Karzai appoints three women to Afghan cabinet By Ahmed Rashid in Lahore (Filed: 24/12/2004) Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai has announced a new cabinet that excludes leading warlords and drug traffickers and includes three women for the first time in the Islamic country's history. After 10 weeks of bargaining and hard politicking that followed his victory in the country's first democratic election, Mr Karzai retained many familiar faces but brought in technocrats to run ministries involved in rehabilitating the economy. Analysts regard his cabinet list as the real test of whether he can bring in a new era of stability after a quarter-century of conflict. United States, Nato and government forces continue to fight an insurgency inspired by Taliban militants and al-Qa'eda remnants, following the invasion in the wake of the September 11 attacks, while opium production is booming. The warlord and former defence minister Gen Mohammed Fahim was dropped in favour of the American -trained Gen Abdul Rahim Wardak. The only former warlord accommodated in the cabinet, as minister for energy, is Ismael Khan. One of three women appointed in the list of 25 was Massouda Jalal, who was the only female candidate among 17 to oppose Mr Karzai in the elections. She was made minister for women's affairs. Mr Karzai won the first free and fair elections with 55 per cent of the poll and a voter turnout of more than 70 per cent. After the elections he pledged to bring in "a clean, efficient, competent cabinet" that would not include warlords. Mr Karzai has not accommodated the two leading opposition candidates who stood against him in the presidential elections - the Tajik leader Younis Qanooni and the Uzbek warlord Gen Rashid Dostum, which analysts say may result in a backlash. Although the cabinet has representation from all smaller ethnic groups, five of the most important ministries have gone to Pathans - the largest ethnic group in the country, to which Mr Karzai belongs. Western diplomats welcomed the new cabinet, saying that it would help to tackle Afghanistan's myriad problems, of which the most important is the explosion in opium production. -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED]> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
