KABUL, Feb 13: Afghanistan’s interim administration on Wednesday named Taj Mohammad Wardag as the new governor of eastern Paktia province, despite threats of violence from a local warlord who wants the job.

Sultan Ahmad Baheen, head of the government-run Bakhter Information agency, said interim leader Hamid Karzai had personally appointed Wardag, a former governor of northeastern Badakhshan province.

“Mr Karzai has approved Taj Mohammad Wardag as the governor,” Baheen said.

Tribal commander Padsha Khan earlier on Wednesday warned he would wage war if anyone else was appointed governor, and repeated allegations that his rivals were working with Al Qaeda.

“If somebody else is appointed, I will go back to Paktia,” Khan said.

“The people, tribes, nation and I do not accept the new governor if he is appointed. We will fight there till the end of Al Qaeda,” he said.

Karzai had earlier appointed Padsha Khan, but withdrew his support for the Pakhtoon tribal strongman after he tried to take up his post by force two weeks ago, leading to street fighting with a rival warlord.

The row over who should control Paktia has underlined the fragility of the UN-backed interim cabinet as it tries to assert its control over the countryside, where ethnic and tribal warlords still hold sway.

After difficult and complicated talks, Karzai decided to reverse his previous decision and appoint Wardag, Baheen said.

He said the decision had been made on Monday but the new governor had not yet gone to Gardez, the capital of Paktia.

The Afghan Islamic Press news agency earlier reported that the local shura in Paktia had rejected Padsha Khan and nominated Wardag for governor.

“We have said that we will accept any nomination by the central government but not Padsha Khan,” the agency quoted a shura spokesman as saying.

Khan warned that any backtracking by Karzai over his appointment would lead to further trouble in the country, if provinces were able to challenge or ignore decrees by the interim administration.

“It would reflect his (Karzai’s) weakness. Similar violations would start all over the country, that would be too difficult for him to control,” he said.—AFP