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Hamid Karzai was appointed interim president of the Afghan Transitional Administration in December 2001, to serve until official elections took place in June 2004. At that time he became the elected president of Afghanistan. Karzai was born on December 24, 1957, in Kandahar into the prestigious Popolzai (Popalzai) clan of the Durrani tribe of ethnic Pashtuns. Karzai's father, Abdul Ahad Karzai, lead the Popolzai, and also served in several high-level government posts in Kabul, the Afghan capital, under monarch Muhammad Zahir Shah, who reigned from 1933 to 1973. Hamid Karzai spent most of his childhood in Kandahar and Kabul. He studied political science at Himachal Pradesh University in Simla, India. As a student Karzai became fluent in Urdu, English, French, and Hindi; he also speaks Pashto and Dari, Afghanistan's two official languages.
In 1979, while Karzai was a student in India, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. Karzai's family fled to Quetta, Pakistan; where he gave financial support and worked as a key planner and strategist, helping to route supplies to the anti-Soviet Islamic guerrillas. When the Soviet troops withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989, Karzai returned to his homeland. Karzai served for a time in the cabinet under Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani. In 1996, the Taliban took control of his country. Karzai briefly aligned himself with the Taliban, but as a moderate Muslim and advocate of women's rights, he soon joined his father and younger brother in opposition to the Taliban. Karzai became leader of the Popolzai, a clan of about 500,000 members in 1999 when his father was assassinated by people Karzai believed to be Taliban agents. The following year, Karzai testified before the Foreign Relations Committee of the United States Senate on the urgent need to replace the Taliban. In 2001, following the September 11 terrorist attack, Karzai worked with the United States to overthrow the Taliban in Afghanistan and muster support for a new government. Karzai helped negotiate the Taliban's surrender of Kandahar, its last remaining stronghold, in December, 2001. On December 22, Karzai was sworn in as interim prime minister of Afghanistan. In June 2002, a special session of more than 1,500 Afghan representatives, voted overwhelmingly to appoint Karzai transitional head of state until the country held its first-ever general elections, in 2004, and he was officially elected president. Karzai was elected to a second five-year term in 2009.
Karzai is married to Zinat Karzai, a doctor by profession. He received an honorary doctorate in literature from Himachal University in 2003.
Last updated: January 14, 2009.
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