Taj Mohammad Wardak is an Afghan politician from the National Independence Party of Afghanistan (Hezb-e Isteqlal Milli Afghanistan) [1] . An ethnic Pashtun, he spent some of the period of the Taliban's administration in the United States of America, and became an American citizen. [2]
In the mid-1960s, Wardak was the Deputy Governor of Badakhshan Province. [3] In the 1970s, he served as Governor of Badakhshan and Laghman provinces.
Wardak was appointed Governor of Paktia province in Afghanistan in the winter of 2002. [4] He served for only a few months due to opposition from local warlord Pacha Khan Zadran. [5]
According to Guantanamo captive Hafizullah Shabaz Khail, in testimony before his Combatant Status Review Tribunal Taj Mohammed [ sic ] Wardak was the first governor Hamid Karzai appointed for the Province of Paktia. [6] Khail said he was appointed the District Chief of Zormat because the new governor, Wardak, trusted him. He said Wardak was replaced as governor by Raz Mohammed Dalili when Hamid Karzai asked him to assume a position in Kabul.
According to the BBC the "relatively unknown" Wardak was appointed Interior Minister on June 19, 2002. [7]
According to Islam Online, Wardak's appointment raised controversy within the Ministry. [8] They quote unnamed Ministry officials, and sentry Mohammad Halim:
Wardak was one of several cabinet ministers Karzai appointed to a high level commission to investigate the assassination of Abdul Qadir, Vice President, and also one of Karzai's leading rivals. [9] Qadir, like Wardak, was a Pashtun. Analysts said Karzai picked cabinet ministers from each of Afghanistan's ethnic groups, so each group would realize he was taking the investigation seriously. The commission included Vice President Mohammad Karim Khalili, Intelligence Services Director Mohammad Arif Sarwari, Rural Development Minister Mohammad Hanif Atma, and former Interim Irrigation Minister Hajji Mangal Hussain.
Wardak and Karzai differed in their interpretation of the deaths of students shot during a demonstration. [10] Karzai called the first student known to have died a "martyr". Wardak said that student was shot by other students.
Wardak was replaced on January 28, 2003, by Ali Ahmad Jalali. [11] [12]
An article published on the web-site of The Jamestown Foundation on June 23, 2004 described Wardak as a "presidential aide". [13]
Wardak was one of the running mates for presidential candidate Mohammad Yunos Qanuni. [14]
Taj Mohammad Wardak is listed as the head of the National Independence Party of Afghanistan on the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Ministry of Justice web-page that lists the licensed political parties. [15] [16]
Gardez is the capital of the Paktia Province of Afghanistan. The population of the city was estimated to be ca. 10,000 in the 1979 census and was estimated to be 70,000 in 2008. The majority of the city's native population is Pashtun. The city of Gardez is located at the junction between two important roads that cut, through a huge alpine valley. Surrounded by the mountains and deserts of the Hindu Kush, which boil up from the valley floor to the north, east and west, it is the axis of commerce for a huge area of eastern Afghanistan and has been a strategic location for armies throughout the country's long history of conflict. Observation posts built by Alexander the Great are still crumbling on the hilltops just outside the city limits. The city of Gardez has a population of 70,641. It has 13 districts and a total land area of 6,174 hectares (23.84 sq mi). The total number of dwellings in this city is 7,849.
The Afghan Constitution Commission was established October 5, 2002 as required by the Bonn Agreement, which stipulated that a new Afghan constitution be adopted by a loya jirga. The loya jirga was required to convene within eighteen months of the establishment of Afghan Transitional Administration, which was established by the Emergency Loya Jirga in June 2002. After some delay, the proposed Afghan Constitution was presented to President Hamid Karzai on November 3, 2003. A loya jirga began December 14, 2003 in Kabul and was endorsed January 4, 2004.
Paktia is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the east of the country. Forming part of the larger Loya Paktia region, Paktia Province is divided into 15 districts and has a population of roughly 623,000, which is mostly a tribal society living in rural areas. Pashtuns make up the majority of the population and a small percentage include Tajiks. Gardez is the provincial capital. The traditional food in Paktia is known as (dandakai) which is made from rice and mung bean or green gram.
The Kharoti (Pashto:خروٹی) خروټی) are a Pashtun tribe of Ghilji origin, originating in the central part of Paktika Province, Afghanistan, but can be also found in other parts of the country. The Kharoti settled in Kharotabad in Quetta, British India around 1945.
The Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan (TISA), also known as the Afghan Transitional Authority, was the temporary transitional government in Afghanistan established by the loya jirga in June 2002. The Transitional Authority succeeded the original Islamic State of Afghanistan and preceded the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (2004–2021).
General Abdul Rahim Wardak is an Afghan politician and former Defense Minister of Afghanistan. He was appointed on December 23, 2004, by Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Before this appointment, Wardak was the deputy Defense Minister to the former minister, Mohammed Fahim. During the 1980s Soviet–Afghan War, Wardak had been a national Mujahideen resistance leader who fought the Soviet forces. He is an ethnic Pashtun from the Wardak province. His diplomacy has been instrumental in promoting ethnic reconciliation due to his lineage from tribal chieftains with strong Pashtun relationships with all ethnic groups of the country. He is fluent in Pashto, Dari (Persian), and English.
Mohammad Aslam Watanjar was an Afghan military officer and politician. He played a significant role in the coup in 1978 that killed the Afghan President Mohammad Daoud Khan, starting the Saur Revolution. Watanjar later became a member of the politburo in the Soviet-backed Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.
Abdullah Mujahid is a citizen of Afghanistan who is still held in extrajudicial detention after being transferred from United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba — to an Afghan prison. His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 1100.
Dr. Hafizullah Shabaz Khail is a citizen of Afghanistan, who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States's Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba. American intelligence analysts estimate he was born in 1946, in Paktia, Afghanistan.
Raz Mohammed Dalili was the former governor of Paktia Province in Afghanistan from 2002 until 2004. His arrival as governor in the capital Gardez was delayed when local militia leader and previous governor Pacha Khan Zadran refused to let him into the city. Dalili eventually successfully served for two years. He is an ethnic Pashtun.
Pacha Khan Zadran is a militia leader and a politician in the southeast of Afghanistan. He was a former anti-Soviet fighter and militia leader who played a role in driving the Taliban from Paktia Province in the 2001 invasion, with American backing. He subsequently assumed the governorship of the province. In 2002, he engaged in a violent conflict with rival tribal leaders in the province over the governorship of the province, shelling Gardez City and obstructing two separate appointed governors sent by Hamid Karzai.
Hajji Din Mohammad also known as Azizullah Din Mohammad is a politician in Afghanistan who served as the Governor of Nangarhar Province followed by Governor of Kabul Province. He is currently the Chairman of Peace and Development Islamic Party. He has been involved in the peace and reconciliation process between the Afghan Government and the Taliban and is currently the deputy of High Council for National Reconciliation. Haji Din Mohammad comes from a distinguished Pashtun family "Arsala" The Arsala family is part of the Jabar Khel. He is also the elder brother of late Hajji Abdul Qadir and Abdul Haq. His great-grandfather, Wazir Arsala Khan, served as Foreign Minister of Afghanistan in 1869. One of Arsala Khan's descendants, Taj Mohammad Khan, was a general at the Battle of Maiwand. Another descendant, Abdul Jabbar Khan, was Afghanistan’s first Ambassador to Russia.
The Afghan Interim Administration (AIA), also known as the Afghan Interim Authority, was the first administration of Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban regime and was the highest authority of the country from 22 December 2001 until 13 July 2002.
Mohammad Jan Abdullah Wardak was an Afghan politician and former Mujahideen commander. He served as a government Minister and Governor of Logar Province.
The Zadran, also spelled Dzadran or Jadran, Jandran, zadroon, is a Pashtun tribe that inhabits the Loya or greater Paktia region in southeastern Afghanistan and Kurram Agency parts of Waziristan in neighboring Pakistan. "Zadran: Pashtun tribe mainly residing in the “Zadran Arc” a 9-district area encompassing portions of the Khost, Paktia, and Paktika and Pakistan’s Kpk Balochistan Punjab provinces."
Amanullah Khan Zadran is a citizen of Afghanistan who has held several prominent positions of power.
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