Karzai names new Afghan cabinet

Afghan President Hamid Karzai chose a new Cabinet today, heeding calls to sideline warlords from top positions and creating a new post to oversee the fight against opium production.

Defence Minister Mohammed Fahim, a prominent Tajik warlord and the head of the northern alliance that helped the United States drive the Taliban from power in 2001, was replaced by his deputy, Abdul Rahim Wardak.

Wardak is a Pashtun who made a name for himself as a commander in the 1980s fighting Soviet occupation, then fled abroad as the country descended into civil war.

Southern warlord Gul Agha Sherzai also has been removed from the Cabinet, where he had been public works minister.

Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah and Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali, both popular in the West, were kept on.

However, at least one regional strongman is joining the government.

Ismail Khan, the powerful western warlord whom Karzai removed as governor of Heart earlier this year, was given the position of water and energy minister.

The post is not considered a top-tier position, but Khan’s selection is likely to prompt criticism from human rights groups, who want Karzai to crack down on the influence of warlords and build a more professional political class.

Karzai has walked a tight-rope in trying to limit the influence of the gunslingers, whose large private armies still control large swaths of the countryside.

Khan was accused of torture while governor of Herat, but also was credited with bringing stability and relative prosperity to the region.