Abdullah splits with Karzai

Afghanistan's foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah broke with the country's interim president  Hamid Karzai on Wednesday, saying he would back a fellow member of the government who is challenging Karzai in the October 9 election on October 9, reports The Washington Post.

In his first public comments since a government rift developed this week, Foreign Minister Abdullah said he would support the candidacy of Education Minister Yonus Qanooni, the Post said.

'On Monday, Karzai said Defense Minister Mohammed Fahim would not remain on the ballot as his running mate for first vice president. Opposing the move against Fahim, Qanooni resigned, allowing him to run against Karzai,' the Post article said. "I was part of that decision for the nomination of Minister Qanooni. I will support Mr. Qanooni," Abdullah was quoted as saying. He said he would remain as foreign minister until the election, just as Fahim will continue at defense.

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Fahim, Qanooni and Abdullah formed the core leadership of the Northern Alliance militia and played a key role in Afghanistan's first post-Taliban interim government. The Northern Alliance was composed largely of ethnic Tajiks, and it helped US forces oust the Taliban in late 2001, the Post said.

According to the article, 'Karzai, who is backed by the Bush administration, was chosen as president by an Afghan assembly in December 2001.

A member of the Pashtun ethnic group, Karzai has increasingly relied on support from Afghans returning from the United States and protection by American advisers and security guards. At the same time, he has tried to limit the political influence of Northern Alliance members and neutralize the power of its leaders.'

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The political split led to fears of a backlash from Fahim's armed supporters. Fahim commands the Afghan army's 8th Division, with an estimated 5,000 loyal troops stationed in the Shomali Plain -- the fertile land just north of Kabul -- and in the capital itself, the Post said.

But Abdullah rejected concerns of violence as unfounded. "There wasn't any danger whatsoever, It shows that we are at another stage in Afghanistan. In the past, when things came to that point, there would have been military tensions. I don't think whatsoever there will be any military matter as a consequence. There will be a political consequence," he was quoted as saying.

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