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| Afghanistan |
| 5 Confirmed for Cabinet in Afghanistan |
| 2010-06-29 |
| KABUL, Afghanistan — The Afghan Parliament confirmed five nominees for cabinet posts Monday, leaving six slots vacant. This was the third effort by President Hamid Karzai to fill his 25-member cabinet. Among those approved was a new interior minister, Gen. Bismillah Khan Mohammadi, formerly the army chief of staff, who will take the job that had been held by Hanif Atmar. Mr. Atmar resigned in June along with the head of the intelligence service after Mr. Karzai criticized their failure to intercept militants who attacked a nationwide peace conference. The choice of General Mohammadi to lead the powerful Interior Ministry puts an ethnic Tajik, a member of perhaps Afghanistan's most influential minority, in a critical post and provides the security ministries with some ethnic diversity. The defense minister is, like Mr. Karzai, an ethnic Pashtun, as is the acting head of the intelligence service. Among the nominees rejected by the Parliament were two Hazaras, members of another minority ethnic group. One had headed the secretariat of the Independent Electoral Commission, which was accused of participating in the fraud that tarnished last year's presidential elections. Hazara members of Parliament angrily protested the rejections, rising from their seats and shouting at other lawmakers. Mr. Karzai's spokesman, Waheed Omar, said that the president was concerned about the rejection of the two Hazara nominees and that he would do whatever he could to ensure they had a role in the government. |
| Posted by:Steve White |