Afghan Interim Administration

Afghan Interim Administration
Transitional government
2001–2002


Flag

Capital Kabul
Government Transitional government
Chairman Hamid Karzai
Historical era Global War on Terrorism
 •  Bonn Conference 22 December 2001
 •  ATA established 13 July 2002
Preceded by 		Succeeded by
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
Islamic State of Afghanistan
Afghan Transitional Administration

The Afghan Interim Administration (AIA), also known as the Afghan Interim Authority, was the first administration of Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban regime and was the highest authority of the country from 22 December 2001 until 13 July 2002.

Background

After the September 11 attacks, the United States launched a "Global War on Terrorism" as part of its Operation Enduring Freedom, to remove the Taliban government from power in Afghanistan. Just after the commencement of the invasion of Afghanistan, the United Nations sponsored an international conference in Bonn, Germany with Afghan anti-Taliban leaders to re-create the State of Afghanistan and form an interim government.

The Bonn Agreement established an Afghan Interim Authority which would be established upon the official transfer of power on 22 December 2001. The Interim Authority would consist of Interim Administration a Supreme Court of Afghanistan and a Special Independent Commission for the Convening of an Emergency Loya Jirga (Grand Council). The Emergency Loya Jirga was to be held within 6 months after the establishing of the AIA and would put in place an Afghan Transitional Authority which would replace the Afghan Interim Authority.[1] The Afghan Interim Administration, the most important part of the Interim Authority, would be composed of a Chairman, five Vice Chairmen and 24 other members which each head a department of the Interim Administration. Also decided was that Pashtun leader Hamid Karzai would be the chairman of the Interim Administration.

At the Loya Jirga of 13 July 2002 the Interim Administration was replaced by a Transitional administration.

History

Negotiations in Bonn

Four delegations of anti-Taliban ethnic factions attended the Bonn Conference: the Northern Alliance or United Islamic Front; the "Cypress group," a group of exiles with ties to Iran; the "Rome group," loyal to former King Mohammad Zaher Shah, who lived in exile in Rome and did not attend the meeting; and the "Peshawar group," a group of mostly Pashtun exiles based in Pakistan. At the time of the conference half of Afghanistan was in the hands of the Northern Alliance, including Kabul where Northern Alliance President Burhanuddin Rabbani had taken over the Presidential Palace and said that any talks on the future of Afghanistan should take place inside the country.[2]

There was a lot of debate about who would lead the interim government. Rabbani didn't want the Bonn Conference to decide on names for the interim government but after pressure from the United States and Russia the Northern Alliance delegation headed by younger leader Yunus Qanuni, decided to go on with the talks with or without the support of Rabbani.[2]

At the beginning of the conference it seemed that King Zahir Shah had a lot of support, but the Northern Alliance opposed this. By the final days of the conference, it was down to two candidates: Pashtun leader Hamid Karzai, whom the U.S. was promoting as a viable candidate and Abdul Sittar Sirat, whose name was proposed by the Rome group.[2] Because of worries that Afghans Pashtun majority would be alienated by the selection of Uzbek Abdul Sittar Sirat, the Bonn conference agreed that Karzai would head the Interim Administration. The Northern Alliance received about half of the posts in the interim cabinet, and members of the Rome group were named to eight positions.

Subsequently the Interim cabinet was filled with warlords with private militias. Among the most notable members of the interim administration were the trio Yunus Qanuni, Mohammad Fahim and Abdullah Abdullah, three of the most powerful leaders of the Northern Alliance.

Composition of Afghan Interim Administration

Interim Ministers[3]
Interim
Administration
Position 		Name Ethnicity Notes
Chairman Hamid Karzai Pashtun Independent Pashtun tribal leader in exile in Pakistan
Vice-Chair and
Defense Minister		 Mohammed Fahim Tajik Defense Minister of the United Islamic Front
Vice–Chair and
Women's Affairs 		Sima Samar Hazara Founder of the Shuhada Organization and Shuhada Clinic in Quetta, Rome Group.
Vice-Chair and
Planning Minister 		Mohammed Mohaqqeq Hazara Warlord fighting against the Taliban for the People's Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan in the United Islamic Front
Vice-Chair and
Water and Energy Minister		 Ahmed Shakar Karkar Uzbek United Islamic Front
Vice-Chair and
Finance Minister		 Hedayat Amin Arsala Pashtun Foreign Minister of the Islamic State of Afghanistan in the 90s. Rome group.
Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah Tajik Foreign Minister of the United Islamic Front
Interior Minister Yunus Qanooni Tajik Interior Minister of the United Islamic Front
Communications Minister Abdul Rahim Tajik United Islamic Front
Borders Minister Amanullah Zadran Pashtun Taliban leader, who defected after the American invasion, Rome Group
Refugees Minister Intayatullah Nazeri Tajik United Islamic Front
Small Industries Minister Aref Noozari Pashtun United Islamic Front
Mines and Industry Minister Mohammed Alim Razm Uzbek United Islamic Front
Health Minister Sohaila Siddiqi Pashtun Has been in the governments of king Mohammed Zahir Shah and the communist regime of the 1970s and 1980s. Independent
Commerce Minister Sayed Mustafa Kasemi Shiite Muslim Spokesmen and leader of United National Front
Agriculture Minister Sayed Hussain Anwari Hazara Chief military commander of the Harakat-e Islami in the United National Front
Justice Minister Abbas Karimi Uzbek United Islamic Front
Information and Culture Minister Saeed Makhdoom Rahim Tajik Poet and writer, Rome group
Reconstruction Minister Mohammed Fahim Farhang Pashtun Rome Group
Haj and Mosques Minister Mohammad Hanif Balkhi Tajik Independent
Urban Affairs Minister Abdul Qadir Pashtun Leader in the United National Front for the Hezb-e Islami Khalis faction
Public Works Minister Abdul Khalig Fazal Pashtun Rome group
Irrigation Minister Mangal Hussein Pashtun Previously warlord for the Hezbi Islami Gulbuddin, Peshawar group
Martyrs and Disabled Minister Abdullah Wardak Pashtun Leader in the United National Front for the Islamic Union for the Liberation of Afghanistan
Higher Education Minister Sharif Faez Tajik United Islamic Front
Civil Aviation & Tourism Minister Abdul Rahman Tajik Member of United Islamic Front, but he threw his support to former king Zahir Shah and became a member of the Rome Group
Labor and Social Affairs Mir Wais Saddiq Tajik Son of influential warlords Ismail Khan, United Islamic Front
Transportation Minister Sultan Hamid Sultan Hazara
Education Minister Abdul Rassoul Amin Member of the National Islamic Front and the Rome group.
Rural Development Minister Abdul Malik Anwar Tajik United Islamic Front

References

  1. ↑ "Bonn Agreement". afghangovernment.com.
  2. 1 2 3 http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/campaign/withus/cbonn.html Filling the Vacuum: The Bonn Conferen Frontline
  3. ↑ Thomas H. Johnson (February 2006). "The Prospects for Post-Conflict Afghanistan: A Call of the Sirens to the Country's Troubled Past". V (2). Strategic Insights. Archived from the original on 1 March 2009. Retrieved 29 June 2009.

External links

Preceded by
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan		 Afghan Interim Administration
22 December 2001 – 13 July 2002 		Succeeded by
Afghan Transitional Administration
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