Al-Ahram Weekly | International

		11 - 17 July 2002 Issue No. 594 International	Current issue Previous issue Site map
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875		Recommend this page

A crucial loss

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Army officers salute as they stand next to the coffin of assassinated Afghan Vice-President Haji Abdul-Qadir on Sunday 7 July; villagers in Kakarak, Afghanistan, look at the shoes of visitors killed or injured when US planes bombed a wedding party
The new transitional government of Hamid Karzai suffered a major blow on Saturday when one of its most senior figures was assassinated. Haji Abdul-Qadir was one of Afghanistan's three vice-presidents, the minister for public works and the governor of Nangarhar province. His death could lead to renewed instability in a country struggling to return to peace.
Haji Abdul-Qadir was killed as he left the Ministry of Public Works in Kabul. His green jeep was hit with 36 bullets -- both Qadir and his driver died on the spot. The assassins, believed to be two gunmen in civilian clothes or, possibly, in guards' uniforms, apparently escaped the scene in a taxi.
Haji Abdul-Qadir was one of Afghanistan's most influential tribal leaders. He was a Pashtun, whose base was in Jalalabad, Nangarhar province. One of the few Pashtuns in the Tajik and Uzbek-dominated Northern Alliance, he first fought against the Soviet Union and later against the Taliban. Unlike many other warlords in the country, Qadir enjoyed the reputation of being cultured and civilised. His name was not associated with the human rights abuses committed by other former mujahideen. In Nangarhar, he was regarded as a stern but fair ruler.
Qadir's brother, Abdul-Haq, was hung by the Taliban last year after they captured him in Afghanistan. Haq had gone back after years in exile to campaign for Pashtun support for the American-led campaign against terrorism. Abdul-Qadir was also close to the Americans, though he had reservations about the heavy toll the US campaign was taking on Afghan lives.
Qadir's background -- a powerful Pashtun but with proven opposition to the Taliban -- made him a perfect candidate to act as a bridge between the majority Pashtun community and the Tajik and Uzbek centres of power. As such, he was a key figure in the Karzai administration. His death will definitely set back efforts to integrate Afghanistan's diverse ethnic groups.
Hamid Karzai reacted to the news by calling an emergency cabinet meeting. The murder of one of his vice-presidents in the heart of Kabul speaks volumes about the limits to the new administration's power and indicates that not even the capital is secure. The rest of the country has serious problems of warlordism and crime but the perception, until last week, was that the government was in control, if only in Kabul. That belief has now been shaken. It also indicates that real power in Afghanistan still rests with those who wield military might.
No one has claimed responsibility for the murder, but the most likely explanation is that Qadir was killed by someone opposed to greater Pashtun influence in the new government. Qadir's uniqueness lay in that, apart from Karzai, few Pashtuns could claim to be a strong tribal leader without having been tainted by association with the Taliban. It will be very difficult for Karzai to come up with an equivalent figure to succeed Qadir.
Haji Abdul-Qadir is the second minister that Hamid Karzai has lost to assassination. Abdur-Rehman, the interim administration's tourism minister, was dragged off his plane and beaten to death on the airway of Kabul's airport in February. Tajiks in the Northern Alliance were widely suspected of being implicated in his murder though action has yet to be taken against them. Karzai included Muhammed Fahim, the Tajik NA commander, in his cabinet as defence minister and now as vice-president as well. His presence, despite the suspicions surrounding him, proves the extent to which Karzai's hands are tied by those warlords that still command significant military support.

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