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.