Early life:
Karzai
was born on 24 December 1957 in the Karz area
of KAndahar City in southern Afghanistan. He is an ethnic Pashtun.
His father, Abdul Ahad Karzi,
served as the Deputy Speaker of the Parliament during the 1960s. His
grandfather, Khair Mohammad Khan, had served in the 1919
Afghanistan's War of Independence. Hamid Karzi's family were strong
supporters of ZAhir Shah, the last Kind of Afghanistan.
Hamid
Karzi attended MAhmood Hotaki Elementary
School in Kandahar and Sayed JAmaluddin Afghani in Kabul. He
graduated from Habiba High School in 1976.
From
1979 to 1983, Karzai took a postgraduate course in political science
atHimachal
Pradesh University in
Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India. He is well versed in several
languages, including his native language which is Pashtoas well as
Dari (persian), Hindi, Urdo English and French.
Early career:
After obtaining his Master's degree in India he moved to neighboring Pakistan to work as a fundraiser for the anti-communist mujahideen during the 1980s. The Mujahideens were backed by the United States, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Iran, and Karzai was a secret contact for the U.S. CIA at the time.
Following
the withdrawal of the Soviet's, Hamid Karzai returned to Afghanistan
in early October to assist in the Mujahideen victory in Tarinkot.
Hamid Karzai assisted in rallying Polpalzai Durrani tribes to oust
the regime from the city as well as helped negotiate the defection of
five hundred of Dr. Najib's forces.
When
Najibullah's Soviet-backed governmemt collapsed in 1992, the Peshawar
Accords agreed upon by the Afghan political parties established the
Islamic State of Afghanistan and appointed an interim government to
be followed by general elections. Karzai accompanied the first
mujahideen leaders into Kabul in 1992 following the Soviet
withdrawal.
He served as Deputy Foreign
Minister n the government of Burhanuddin Rabbani.
When
the Taliban emerged in the mid 1990s, Karzai initially recognized
them as a legitimate government because he thought that they would
stop the violence and corruption in his country.
He was asked by the Taliban to
serve as their ambassador but he refused.
He lived in Pakistan as among the
Afghan refugees where he worked to reinstate former Afghan King
Zahir.
During President:
Hamid
Karzai born 24 December 1957) is the current president of
afghanistan; taking office on 7 December 2004. He became a dominant
political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late
2001.During the December 2001 International Conference od
Afghanistanin Germany, Karzai was selected by prominent Afghan
political figuresto serve a six month term as Chairman of the
interirn Administration.
He
was then chosen for a two year term as Interian President during the
2002 Loya jirga (grand assembly) that was held in Kabul, Afghanistan
. After the 2004 presidential election , Karzai was declared winner
and became President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. He won a
second five-year-term in the 2009 presidential election.
