Najibullah Lafraie

Last updated

Najibullah Lafraie was the Foreign Minister of Afghanistan between 1992 and 1996.

Contents

Education

Lafraie obtained a BA in Law and Political Science from Kabul University. He later completed an MA and Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Hawaii.

Career

Lafraie returned to Afghanistan and joined the Afghani liberation movement against the Soviet invasion during the 1980s.

Lafraie was appointed as Minister of Information in the Interim Government of Afghanistan in 1989 and as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs in the Islamic State of Afghanistan in 1992. He served in that position until the Taliban seized Kabul in September 1996.

Lafraie and his family fled to Australasia in the late 1990s. He was refused refugee status in Australia in 1999. [1] In September 2000 he was granted refugee status in New Zealand. He currently lectures in the Politics Department at the University of Otago.

Criticism

Lafraie has been criticised by the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan and Support Association for the Women of Afghanistan for his membership of Jamiat Islami, a group allegedly responsible for various atrocities during the 1990s. [2] [3]

At the time of being granted refugee status, the then leader of the opposition Jenny Shipley criticised Lafraie's involvement with the Afghan government and disagreed with the decision to grant him refugee status. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Babrak Karmal</span> Leader of Afghanistan from 1979 to 1986

Babrak Karmal was an Afghan communist revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Afghanistan, serving in the post of General Secretary of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan from 1979 to 1986.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foreign relations of Afghanistan</span>

The foreign relations of Afghanistan are in a transitional phase since the 2021 fall of Kabul to the Taliban and the collapse of the internationally-recognized Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. No country has recognised the new regime, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Although some countries have engaged in informal diplomatic contact with the Islamic Emirate, formal relations remain limited to representatives of the Islamic Republic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohammad Najibullah</span> Leader of Afghanistan from 1986 to 1992

Mohammad Najibullah Ahmadzai, commonly known as Dr. Najib, was an Afghan communist politician who served as the General Secretary of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan, the leader of the one-party ruling Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from 1986 to 1992 and as well as the President of Afghanistan from 1987 until his resignation in April 1992, shortly after which the mujahideen took over Kabul. After a failed attempt to flee to India, Najibullah remained in Kabul. He lived in the United Nations headquarters until his assassination by the Taliban after their capture of the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan</span> Afghan womens organization founded in 1977

The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) is a women's organization based in Kabul, Afghanistan, that promotes women's rights and secular democracy. It was founded in 1977 by Meena Keshwar Kamal, an Afghan student activist who was assassinated in February 1987 for her political activities. The group, which supports non-violent strategies, had its initial office in Kabul, Afghanistan, but then moved to Pakistan in the early 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Democratic Republic of Afghanistan</span> State in Central Asia from 1978 to 1992

The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA), renamed the Republic of Afghanistan in 1987, was the Afghan state during the one-party rule of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) from 1978 to 1992. It relied heavily on assistance from the Soviet Union for most of its existence, especially during the Soviet–Afghan War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soviet–Afghan War</span> 1979–1989 war between the Soviet Union and Afghan insurgents

The Soviet–Afghan War was a protracted armed conflict fought in the Soviet-controlled Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989. It saw extensive fighting between the occupying forces of the Soviet Union, the DRA and allied paramilitary groups against the Afghan mujahideen, foreign fighters, and smaller groups of anti-Soviet Maoists. While the mujahideen were backed by various countries and organizations, the majority of their support came from Pakistan, the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Iran, and the Arab states of the Persian Gulf. Combat took place throughout the 1980s, mostly in the Afghan countryside. The conflict led to the deaths of between 562,000 and 2,000,000 Afghans, while millions more fled from the country as refugees; most externally displaced Afghans sought refuge in Pakistan and in Iran. Approximately 6.5% to 11.5% of Afghanistan's erstwhile population of 13.5 million people is estimated to have been killed over the course of the conflict. The Soviet–Afghan War caused grave destruction throughout Afghanistan, and has also been cited by scholars as a significant factor that contributed to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, formally ending the Cold War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gulbuddin Hekmatyar</span> Afghan politician, mujahid and drug trafficker (born 1949)

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar is an Afghan politician, former mujahideen leader and drug trafficker. He is the founder and current leader of the Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin political party, so called after Mohammad Yunus Khalis split from Hezbi Islami in 1979 to found Hezb-i Islami Khalis. He has twice served as Prime Minister during the 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan</span> Ruling party of Afghanistan from 1978 to 1992

The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) was a Marxist–Leninist political party in Afghanistan established on 1 January 1965. Four members of the party won seats in the 1965 Afghan parliamentary election, reduced to two seats in 1969, albeit both before parties were fully legal. For most of its existence, the party was split between the hardline Khalq and moderate Parcham factions, each of which claimed to represent the "true" PDPA.

The following lists events that happened during 1991 in Afghanistan.

The following lists events that happened during 1996 in Afghanistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islamic State of Afghanistan</span> 1992–2002 interim state in Central Asia established by the Peshawar Accords

The Islamic State of Afghanistan was the government of Afghanistan that was established by the Peshawar Accords of 26 April 1992 by many, but not all, Afghan mujahideen parties, after the fall of the socialist government. Its power was limited due to the country's second civil war, which was won by the Taliban, who took control of Kabul in 1996. The Islamic State then transitioned to a government in exile and led the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance. It remained the internationally recognized government of Afghanistan at the United Nations until 2001, when the Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan was created and an Afghan Interim Administration took control of Afghanistan with US and NATO assistance following the overthrow of the first Taliban government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Afghan Civil War (1989–1992)</span> 1989–1992 internal conflict in Afghanistan

The 1989–1992 Afghan Civil War took place between the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan on 15 February 1989 until 27 April 1992, the day after the proclamation of the Peshawar Accords proclaiming a new interim Afghan government which was supposed to start serving on 28 April 1992.

The following lists events that happened during 1992 in Afghanistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Afghanistan (1978–1992)</span> Period of Afghan history from 1978 to 1992

The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan was the government of Afghanistan between 1978 and 1992. It was recognised diplomatically by only eight countries which were allies of the Soviet Union. It was ideologically close to and economically and militarily dependent on the Soviet Union, and was a major belligerent of the Afghan Civil War.

General Mohammad Nabi Azimi. جنرال محمد نبی عظیمی. was the Deputy Defense Minister of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA) who played a critical role in the fall of President Mohammad Najibullah. General Mohammad Nabi Azimi was an Ethnic Tajik who belonged to the Parcham faction of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Afghan conflict</span> Continuous series of wars in Afghanistan

The Afghan conflict, also called Instability in Afghanistan is a series of events and wars that have kept Afghanistan in a near-continuous state of armed conflict since the 1970's. The country's instability began after the collapse of the Kingdom of Afghanistan in the 1973 coup d'état; with the overthrow of Afghan monarch Mohammed Zahir Shah, who reigned for almost forty years, Afghanistan’s relatively peaceful period in modern history came to an end. The triggering event for the first major war in Afghanistan during this period was the Saur Revolution of 1978, which overthrew the Republic of Afghanistan and established the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. Rampant post-revolution fighting across the country ultimately led to a pro-government military intervention by the Soviet Union, sparking the Soviet–Afghan War in the 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hamdullah Mohib</span> Afghan politician and diplomat

Hamdullah Mohib is an Afghan politician and former diplomat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shafiqa Habibi</span> Afghan journalist

Shafiqa Habibi is a journalist, television anchor, activist and politician from Afghanistan. She is known for her work to support women journalists, and for her 2004 candidacy for Vice President of Afghanistan as the running mate of Abdul Rashid Dostum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1990 Afghan coup d'état attempt</span> Attempted overthrow of President Mohammad Najibullah of Afghanistan

The 1990 Afghan coup d'etat attempt occurred on March 6, 1990, when General Shahnawaz Tanai, a hardline communist and Khalqist who served as Minister of Defence, attempted to overthrow President Mohammad Najibullah of the Republic of Afghanistan. The coup attempt failed and Tanai was forced to flee to Pakistan.

On 15 August 2021, the city of Kabul, the capital of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, was captured by Taliban forces during the 2021 Taliban offensive, concluding the War in Afghanistan that began in 2001. The fall of Kabul provoked a range of reactions across the globe, including debates on whether to recognize the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan, on the humanitarian situation in the country, on the outcome of the War, and the role of military interventionism in world affairs.

References

  1. 1 2 Roughan, John (September 6, 2001). "Shipley - refugee has links with terror" via www.nzherald.co.nz.
  2. "RAWA.ORG: Dr Najibullah Lafraie: Fundamentalist in the Guise of Academician". www.rawa.org.
  3. "RAWA.ORG: Najibullah Lafraie's letter to SAWA". www.rawa.org.