d Grazda Photo Essay Afghanistan

Yunus Qanooni, the disgruntled former interior minister who now holds the education portfolio, has decided to press ahead with plans to forge a political party that would challenge Karzai for power, the Associated Press reported July 19. Qanooni's nascent National Party is casting itself as the political successor of Ahmad Shah Masood, the charismatic Tajik field commander who battled both the Soviets and the Taliban, and who was assassinated just days before the September 11 terrorist attacks. Qanooni and his supporters hope the party will be in position to challenge Karzai in presidential elections scheduled for 2004.

Qanooni's action could complicate Karzai's task of expanding the central government's authority. Karzai has moved vigorously in recent weeks to reduce the power of Afghanistan's troublesome warlords, who control large portions of the country. These efforts, along with measures to restore the country's devastated infrastructure and provide relief to impoverished Afghans, has been undermined by a lack of international support, Afghan government officials and UN representatives assert. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archives].

On July 18, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan repeated his calls for the expansion of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) to areas outside the capital, Kabul. The UN Security Council has so far refused to expand the 4,500-strong force.

Photographer Edward Grazda recently spent several weeks in Afghanistan on assignment for EurasiaNet. During his visit, he had a unique opportunity to document the give-and-take among delegates to the Loya Jirga. A selection of his images comprises this EurasiaNet photo essay.