• Hamid Karzai is Afghanistan's first democratically elected president. He was elected in 2004, after serving as the nation's interim leader subsequent to the 2001 overthrow of the militant Islamist Taliban regime. He runs for re-election in August 2009.

  On May 4, 2009, Karzai announced that he had chosen warlord Mohammad Qasim Fahim as a running mate for the 2009 election. The choice was immediately condemned by Human Rights Watch, which has accused Fahim of drug trafficking, maintaining armed militias and a variety of human rights abuses.Philly.com: Afghan president chooses warlord as running mate (May 4, 2009)

• 1. Born: December 24, 1957 in Kandahar, Afghanistan
  2. President since December 7, 2004
  3. Dominant Afghan political figure after removal of the Taliban
  4. Ethnicity: Pashtun
  5. Member of Popalzai tribe
  6. Speaks five languages: English, French, Persian, Urdu, Hindi, and Pashto
  7. In 1999 he married obstetrician Zeenat Karzai
  8. Son, Mirwais, was born in January 2007.

• Targeted by Taliban

  Although Karzai had previously supported Taliban regime, he became opposed to it after his father's 1999 assassination, which was believed to have been perpetrated by the members of the group. There have been several assassination attempts on Karzai's life as well. These attempts occurred on the following dates: September 5, 2002, September 16, 2004, June 10, 2007, and on April 27, 2008. The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the assassination attempt of April of 2008.

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