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| Afghanistan |
| Karzai moves to rein in warlords |
| 2002-12-16 |
| The Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, has banned political leaders from taking part in military activity. The move is being seen as Mr Karzai's first major attempt to rein in the country's powerful warlords. The decree, which comes into immediate effect, was released as the president arrived in Oslo ahead of a conference on Afghan reconstruction. It says that in order to ensure affairs are better run, no civilian or military official is allowed to work in both political and military spheres. But how can you be a Afghan politician without a private army? Observers say dominant regional chiefs represent the biggest challenges to Mr Karzai's rule. Since the collapse of the Taleban last year, regional warlords have continued to use violence to resolve ethnic and territorial disputes. The warlords include Ismail Khan in the west, Abdul Rashid Dostum in the north and Gul Agha in the south. Mr Khan, an ethnic Tajik who controls Herat province, has allowed his forces to engage in frequent clashes with rival ethnic groups in his area of control, despite government attempts to mediate peace. In the latest outbreak earlier this month, fighting between supporters of Mr Khan and those of Pashtun commander Amanullah Khan left at least 11 people dead. Correspondents say the decree also represents a direct challenge to General Dostum, an Uzbek leader who controls large tracts of Afghanistan's strategic north. A former communist general, he is the head of the military-backed Junbish political party. Karzai must be feeling his oats. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #2 An interesting question: How would the Second Amendment map to Afghanistan in this situation? |
| Posted by: Ptah 2002-12-17 06:44:09 |
| #1 Okay, it's not original thinking, but isn't a strong national army the key to success in Afghanistan? That and a photocopy of the Constitution will go miles. |
| Posted by: Anna 2002-12-16 19:28:02 |