Life and Work of Abdul Rahim Ghafoorzai Recognized
August 21 marked the eleventh anniversary of the passing of Abdul Rahim Ghafoorzai, former Prime Minister of Afghanistan, who was killed in plane crash in 1997 shortly assuming the leadership post.
President Hamid Karzai expressed his condolences to Ghafoorzai's family on the anniversary of his death. In a statement, President Karzai recognized Ghafoorzai's role in work for peace and nationally unity during trying times for Afghanistan and called him a "vigorous person who spent his life serving Afghans." The statement also added that that Ghafoorzai lost his life for the sake of stability and prosperity of this country.
Ambassador Said T. Jawad and several officials of the Afghan government and Parliament also made commemorative statements on the anniversary, referring to Ghafoorzai's work and service for Afghanistan.
Ghafoorzai was a prominent Afghan leader, having been the first to denounce the 1978 Soviet invasion on his country during the annual meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement at the United Nations in New York. He was key figure in the resistance era and during his service he served in important posts including Afghanistan's Charge d' Affaires to the United Nations, Deputy Foreign Minister, Foreign Minister and eventually Prime Minister.
According to a biography written by his sons, as Prime Minister he "was determined to implementing his goal of establishing a broad based government, which would be composed of all ethnic groups in the country within a framework to be administered by manly technocrats, experts and personalities from inside as well as abroad, in cooperation with the international community."
Aside from achieving success as an able diplomat, Ghafoorzai was a renown artist, calligrapher, writer and poet. He authored the following books: "Analysis of the Geneva Accord on Afghanistan" (1995); "Carnelian Ring," a novel on the life of an Afghan refugee family in search of freedom (1995); and "A Guide to Islam for Afghan Refugee Children," (1984).
