Hamid Karzai was born on the 24th of December,
1957 (Quaus 9th, 1336) in the village of Karz, near Kandahar,
Afghanistan.
His grandfather, Khair Mohammad Khan, had served
during Afghanistan’s war of independence and as the Deputy
Speaker of the Senate. His father, Abdul Ahad Karzai, was a
tribal (Popalzai) elder and a significant national political
figure, who served as the Deputy Speaker of the Parliament during
the 1960s. Abdul Karzai moved with his family to Kabul upon
his election to the Parliament.
Hamid Karzai studied at Mahmood Hotaki Elementary
School, Sayed Jamaluddin Afghani School, and Habibia High School.
After graduating from high school, he traveled to India as an
exchange student in 1976, and was accepted to study for his
Masters Degree in International Relations and Political Science
from Simla University. He obtained his Master’s Degree
in 1983, shortly after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (which
began in 1979).
Hamid Karzai then traveled to Pakistan, joining
the Mujahideen fighters resisting the Soviet occupation of his
homeland. In 1985, he traveled to Lille, France, to attend a
three-month journalism course. When he returned to Peshawar,
Pakistan, he served as the Director of Information and later
as the Deputy Director of the Political Office of the National
Liberation Front led by Professor Sebghatullah Mujadidi. After
the formation of the transitional government of the Mujahideen
in 1989, he was appointed Director of the Foreign Relations
Unit in the Office of the President of the Interim Government.
When the Mujahideen Government was established in Kabul in 1992,
Hamid Karzai was appointed Deputy Foreign Minister. Two years
later, when the civil war between the various Mujahideen groups
began, he resigned from his post, and began to work actively
for the organization of a national Loya Jirga (Grand Council).
A devoted Muslim and Afghan patriot, he believed that only through
a Loya Jirga could Afghanistan’s difficulties be overcome,
and the differences between the competing parties resolved peacefully.
This belief was borne out by the Emergency Loya Jirga of 2002
and the Constitutional Loya Jirga in 2003.
In August 1999, Abdul Ahad Karzai, who was organizing
resistance to the Taliban from his base in Quetta, Pakistan,
was assassinated by the Taliban and their foreign supporters.
The commitment of the Karzai family, and of Hamid Karzai in
particular, to ridding Afghanistan of this foreign menace was
not shaken by this tragedy, and he continued his father’s
struggle against the Taliban.
Hamid Karzai returned to Uruzgan Province in October
2001, and worked to coordinate local efforts to rid Afghanistan
of the Taliban and their supporters. On December 5th, 2001,
while he was still in Afghanistan leading these efforts, he
was elected Chairman of the Interim Administration of Afghanistan,
by participants at the UN-sponsored Bonn Conference. He, along
with the appointed Cabinet, took his oath of office on December
22nd of that year.
His role as leader of the country was confirmed
by members of the Emergency Loya Jirga, when he was elected
President of the Transitional Government on June 13th, 2002.
During Afghanistan’s first Presidential Election, on October
9th, 2004, Hamid Karzai won the majority of the votes, and was
elected to a 5-year term as President of the Islamic Republic
of Afghanistan. He took his oath of allegiance at Salam Khana
Palace on December 7th, 2004, in the presence of dignitaries
and officials from around the world.
As President, Hamid Karzai is seen as a uniting force for all
Afghans. He has long been an advocate of improving human rights,
and particularly, the role of women in Afghanistan. He has appointed
several women to his Cabinet, and recently appointed the first
female Governor in Afghanistan’s history.
Hamid Karzai has been awarded many honours, among
them a Honourary Knighthood from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth
(2003), the Philadelphia Liberty Medal (2004), and the American
Bar Association-Asia Rule of Law Award (2003).
In 1999, he married Dr. Zeenat Quraishi.
He has six brothers and one sister. He speaks Pashtu, Dari,
Urdu and English fluently, and enjoys riding horses and studying
philosophy.
For more information, please explore the President’s official website:
http://www.president.gov.af/
Click here to watch a video of the President's September 2006 speech at the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars
