Karzai Sworn in As Afghanistan’s First Elected President

Karzai took an oath on the Noble Qur’an as he was inaugurated in front of foreign dignitaries including US Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Cheney and Rumsfeld played the most remarkable role in bringing Karzai to the helm of power in Afghanistan , Al-Jazeera reported.

They both warned that “extremists” still wanted to take back Afghanistan , and the Taliban Monday night launched a deadly attack on a checkpoint in southern Khost province.

Karzai won a landslide victory in an October 9 election that passed off without major bloodshed, despite threats from the Taliban to mount attacks to derail the vote.

The audience erupted in applause after Karzai took the oath and kissed the Noble Qur’an. He himself then swore in vice presidents Ahmed Zia Masood and Ustad Mohammed Karim Khalili, standing between them on the podium.

He promised in his oath to exert his efforts “towards the prosperity and progress of the people of Afghanistan ”.

Addressing the audience, US-backed Karzai also pledged to tackle the problems facing Afghanistan after 25 years of war, including the swelling drug trade, powerful warlords and Taliban remnants.

British Foreign Office has warned Tuesday, July 27, that this year’s opium harvest in Afghanistan would hit records, in huge embarrassment for British Premier Tony Blair who largely justified the Afghanistan invasion on stemming heroin trafficking and trade.

Tight Security

The ceremony at the heavily fortified presidential palace in Kabul took place under watertight security amid threats by the ousted Taliban regime to disrupt it.

Afghan, NATO and US forces drew a tight security cordon around the capital before the inauguration and many streets in downtown Kabul were closed.

Cheney hailed it as a “great and historic moment for the people of Afghanistan ” and praised the US role in bringing democracy to the country.

A US-led military offensive ousted the Taliban in late 2001 after they failed to hand over Osama bin Laden.

Cheney and Rumsfeld, who arrived separately, were to leave the country immediately after the inauguration and an official lunch with Karzai.

“The military mission is not over,” Rumsfeld told US special forces at the Bagram airfield just outside Kabul . “It is not over, there are still groups, extremists, that would like to take this country back.”

Cheney highlighted the same threat when he spoke to troops separately at Bagram.

“Freedom still has enemies here in Afghanistan ,” Cheney told US forces “and you are here to make these enemies miserable,” he added to cheers.

Kabul residents mainly stayed at home because of the tight security and watched the swearing-in at home on television, according to AFP.

But the palace was decked out with multi-colored banners reading “December 7 celebrates the decision of the Afghan people” and “Welcome to the inauguration of our elected president”.

The black, green and red Afghan flag was flying across the city center while huge portraits of Karzai wearing traditional Afghan dress hung from buildings.

The security clampdown was symptomatic of the perilous road before Karzai as he begins his term in office.

Much of the country remains under the sway of mujahedeen commanders who are reportedly making money from the drugs business. A recent UN report said Afghanistan now pumps out 87 percent of the world’s opium and heroin.

In his efforts to curb these problems Karzai will continue to rely on the help of the United States , which leads a 18,000-strong military force hunting down Taliban and Al-Qaeda remnants in Afghanistan .

The Taliban continues to attack foreign and pro-government troops as well as aid workers. The Taliban stronghold of Kandhar fell on December 7, 2001.

Up to six Taliban militants and four Afghan soldiers were killed during heavy fighting in the southeast of the country on Monday night, military officials said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack by hundreds of militants armed with machine-guns and rockets on a checkpoint in Khost province which borders Pakistan , military commander Khyal Baz Khan told AFP.