|
Karzai asserting authority in Pashtun areas
In a bold and risky move that could stoke ethnic conflict in his divided country and weaken his already shaky administration, Afghan President Hamid Karzai is attempting to assert his authority in Afghanistanâs Pashtun areas where Taliban and al Qaida fugitives still run freely. At the weekend, he sacked at least 20 provincial officials - many of them warlords or militia commanders - in the Pashtun-dominated provinces of Kandahar, Logar, Nangarhar, Paktia and Paktika. Changes were also made in Nimroz, a province bordering Iran where ethnic Baloch chieftains have their own tribal militias. Although ethnically different, the Baloch often side with the majority Pashtuns in ethnic conflicts. Good move. It's also a move he couldn't have thought about making six months ago. Hope things keep coming together like this... Apparently to dispel the impression that he was only acting against Pashtuns, Karzai also fired some security officials in Mazar-i-Sharif, a city dominated by Tajik, Hazara and Uzbek ethnic groups. Fair's fair... But this move may not be enough to head off perceptions that Karzai - initially chosen to head the interim government precisely because of his appeal to his fellow Pashtuns - has now turned against his ethnic kin. That's because Pashtuns, as a group, think it's fine and dandy to crack down on other ethnic groups, but doing the same thing to Pashtuns is unacceptable. The inflated sense of self-worth appears to be a tribal trait... Posted by: Fred Pruitt 2002-11-07 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=7713 |