June 14, 2002	Friday	Rabi-us-Sani 2, 1423

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KABUL, June 13: Hamid Karzai, the leader of the current interim administration, was elected Afghanistan’s head of state on Thursday by delegates at the Loya Jirga, officials said.

Loya Jirga chairman Mohammad Ismail Qasimyar said Karzai won 1,295 votes out of a total of 1,575 ballots cast.

“Therefore the winner of these elections is Mr Hamid Karzai, elected head of the transitional period,” he said to loud applause.

Karzai will now be charged with running a transitional government that will govern Afghanistan until democratic elections are held in 2004.

Of the two other candidates, who presented only a token challenge to Karzai, UN staffer Massouda Jalal won 171 votes and Mir Mahsooz Nedayee garnered 89, Qasimyar said. The remaining ballots were not considered valid.

VISION FOR PEACE: In a lively nomination speech that was greeted with thunderous applause, Hamid Karzai set out a vision for peace, reconstruction and reconciliation in his country.

He said the traumatized Afghan people now wanted their homeland to be transformed by stability and disarmament.

“There is peace and there is stability but this peace and stability should be further strengthened.”

Karzai called for reconciliation in the post-Taliban era, saying “ordinary” members of the militia should not be persecuted.

“There should be a distinction between who is a Talib and who is a terrorist,” he said. “We shouldn’t harass those who are a part of our people.”

“We are going to persecute only those who have committed treachery against the country, who have destroyed the country, who have sold out our soil.”

Karzai hailed the holding of the Loya Jirga and the open and free exchange that has taken place at the venue, a giant marquee set up at the Kabul Polytechnic compound.

“I am very happy that Afghans have gathered after 23 years under the same tent. It’s a matter of dignity for us,” he said.

If elected, Karzai said, one of his top concerns would be the country’s reconstruction.

“Billions of dollars are going to pour into Afghanistan which have to be spent with transparency and precision,” he said.—AFP