Abdullah Abdullah

عبدالله عبدالله Dr. Abdullah Abdullah
Abdullah Abdullah
Foreign Minister of Afghanistan
In office October 2, 2001 – April 20, 2005
President	Hamid Karzai
Preceded by	Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil
Succeeded by	Rangin Dadfar Spanta
Born	1960 Kabul, Afghanistan
Nationality	Afghan
Children	4
Alma mater	Kabul Medical University
Religion	Islam
Website	www.drabdullah.af

Abdullah Abdullah (Persian: عبدالله عبدالله) is an Afghan politician and a doctor of medicine. He ran as an independent candidate in the 2009 Afghan presidential election and came in second place with 30.5% of the total votes. On November 1, 2009, Abdullah quit the runoff election that would have taken place six days later, on November 7.

Early life

Abdullah was born in Kabul, Afghanistan in 1960. Until he became a government minister, he had only one name, Abdullah; demands from Western newspaper editors for a second name led him to adopt the name Abdullah Abdullah. Like most Afghans, he was raised in a devout Muslim family. Abdullah Abdullah is of mixes Tajik and Pashtun ethnicity. His father, Ghullam Muhayuddin Khan, was from the Kandahar region, and was a high ranking government official who had risen through the ranks. Abdullah's early years were split between living in Kandahar and Kabul, where his father was serving as an administrator in the land survey and subsequently the inspection section of the Prime Minister’s office. A number of his ancestors had worked in the court of the royal house of Afghanistan in past centuries.

Eventually, Abdullah’s family settled in Kabul where his father was appointed as a senator by King Zahir Shah. Abdullah’s father had a great impact on his son's life.

Education

Abdullah was a top student throughout his elementary and high school years. He graduated from Naderia High School in 1976 and went on to study ophthalmology at Kabul University’s Department of Medicine where he graduated and received his M.D. degree in 1983.

Medical career

After receiving his degree, Abdullah served as the resident ophthalmologist at Noor Eye Institute in Kabul until 1986. Starting in 1985, Abdullah left the country due to the social and political unrest during the leftist government and went on to work at the Syed Jamaluddin Afghani Eye Hospital for Afghan Refugees in Peshawar, Pakistan.

In September 1985 Abdullah became the Head of the Health Department for the Panjshir Resistance Front.

Soviet war in Afghanistan

In 1986 Abdullah became a close associate and adviser to Commander Ahmad Shah Massoud in the Soviet war in Afghanistan.

Islamic State of Afghanistan

In 1995 Abdullah became the Spokesperson for the Islamic State of Afghanistan. Following the capture of Kabul by the Taliban in 1996, the United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan (also known as the Northern Alliance) was created. Abdullah became the group's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in September 1997.

Taliban Era

During the Taliban era, Abdullah was one of the few English-speaking people in the Northern Alliance, the anti-Taliban movement headed by Ahmad Shah Massoud and Burhanuddin Rabbani. The Northern Alliance was Afghanistan's internationally recognized government at that time, and Abdullah served as the country's official foreign minister.

Interim Government of Afghanistan

File:Abdullah Abdullah 2004-06-14-D-9880W-075.jpg

Abdullah Abdullah at the Pentagon in 2004

See also: Bonn Agreement (Afghanistan) and 2001 in Afghanistan

As a result of Bonn conference on Afghanistan, Abdullah was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Interim Administration in December 2001. On June 11, 2002, there was an emergency loya jirga, held on the grounds of Kabul Polytechnic. As a result, Abdullah was reconfirmed as Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan.

Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

Following the 2004 Afghanistan Presidential Elections, Abdullah was one of the few people who kept their position from the Transitional Government and was re-appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Massoud foundation

Abdullah has been the Secretary General of the Massoud Foundation since June 2006.

2009 Afghan presidential campaign

On May 6, 2009, Abdullah registered as an Independent candidate for the 2009 Afghan presidential election, running against incumbent president Hamid Karzai. Abdullah selected as his running mates Humayun Shah Asefi as his First Vice President and Dr. Cheragh Ali Cheragh (a surgeon from Kabul who is a practicing Shia) as Second Vice President. Afghanistan has an Executive structure featuring two Vice Presidents, a First VP and a Second VP. to help ensure a stable government by attempting to provide ethnic and religious balance to senior government leadership positions. Unofficial and non-certified electoral results were announced during the day on September 16, 2009, showing that Abdullah was in second position with 27.8% of the total votes cast. President Karzai did not achieve the 50.01% vote majority required to avoid a runoff election only after a large number of questionable ballots were disallowed by the Independent Afghan Electoral Commission, and came under intense international political and diplomatic pressure from U.S. President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and many other international leaders. Because of this ongoing pressure, President Karzai also agreed to participate in a head to head runoff election between himself and Abdullah (as they had the two largest numbers of total votes cast for them in the first election), which was scheduled nationwide for November 7, 2009.

On November 1, 2009, Abdullah announced that he had decided to withdraw from the runoff election, citing his lack of faith in the President Karzai government's ability to hold a "fair and transparent" election process. His departure from the election race led the Afghan Electoral Commission to declare President Karzai the winner (essentially winning by default). The Commission then announced that the runoff election scheduled for November 7, 2009 was to be canceled, as the need for it was now moot. Some political observers have commented on the obvious point that by departing from the runoff election, Abdullah was undermining, either intentionally or otherwise, the credibility and ultimate legitimacy of President Karzai's mandate for his new five-year term in the Presidency.

External links

• Abdullah´s Profile
• Dr. Abdullah Abdullah Official Presidential Campaign Website
• Afghan Elections Dossier - Abdullah Abdullah, August 2009 - Radio France Internationale
• Interview with Radio France Internationale August 2009
• Why a second round in 2009 election? Radio France Internationale
• Jawedan.com - The most visited website over Afghanistan
• Karzai Challenger Drops Out Of Runoff Election by NPR
• Video: Abdullah Abdullah at the Asia Society, New York, 5/27/2010ar:عبد الله عبد الله

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