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HERAT: They call him the Amir of Herat.
The princely title conjures up visions of Afghanistan’s distant past, of rival fiefdoms, warriors on horseback, of fierce resistance and great rivalries between Russia and Britain, the superpowers of the mid-19th century.
Yet it is surprisingly apt today in describing Ismail Khan, the influential governor of the ancient city of Herat in western Afghanistan, one of the country’s key gateways.
Khan was an officer in the Afghan army involved in a 1979 uprising against the then communist rulers, in which dozens of Soviet advisers in Herat were killed and their bodies mutilated.
He fought the Soviet invasion in the 1980s and the Taliban in the 1990s, escaping dramatically from a Taliban prison in 2000.
Although he has critics as a tactician and soldier, he commands the respect of his people through his fighting pedigree.
Khan loves horses, and visiting journalists are taken to the windswept plains outside the historic city to watch him gallop with close confidants, most of whom fought with him.
His standing army of more than 25,000 is unrivalled and he brooks no opposition. There are few rumblings of political dissent and ordinary people are grateful for the calm he brings.
And Khan is a key figure in the strategies of the United States and Iran, the two countries most interested in ensuring that his province, rich from the trade that passes through it, does not fall out of their spheres of influence.
Herat may be about 650 kms from the capital Kabul, but the 60-year-old, white-bearded Khan is seen as one of the linchpins to a stable Afghanistan and the success or otherwise of the central government under President Hamid Karzai.
DISTANCE FROM KABUL: Khan, speaking after midnight at his plush guest house overlooking Herat, insists he fully supports Karzai. A portrait of the president hangs above the gold-coloured sofa where the stocky, turbaned governor sits.
His decision to decline Karzai’s offer of the interior ministry and vice presidency was taken, he said, only after the people of Herat begged him to stay.
“It was the will of the people, not for my personal business or benefit,” he said.
Khan has also begun to pay some of his province’s customs revenues, estimated at several million dollars each month, into central government coffers. Afghan officials have said Kabul is looking for more, if not all, of that income.
Herat’s wealth is immediately evident. The road from the tiny airport is smooth asphalt, buildings in the city centre are less damaged by war than in other places, a huge canal construction project is underway along one of the main streets and traffic lights work.
Outside the small mosque where Khan was due to pray on a recent Friday, hundreds of locals lined the dusty alley, many of them holding portraits of mujahideen “martyrs” killed in battle.
He arrived in a convoy of six off-road vehicles carrying his bodyguards as the crowd pressed around, shouting “Allahu Akbar!” (God is Greater) and throwing rose petals.
Khan’s cult-like status is built around his exploits as a commander and resistance leader and the rare stability he brings.
There is sporadic fighting between Khan’s troops and those of a rival warlord south of Herat near the Shindand air base, but it has had little impact on the city.
However, there are dissenters concerned that the benefits of Khan’s rule come at a price.
Mohammad Rafiq Shahir, president of a local “shura”, or independent council of professionals, fears there is too much power in one person’s hands. He is worried by the lack of capable people rising through the ranks of the local administration.
“What we want is the rule of law, and a system of government set up so individual powers are limited,” he said.
Shahir was elected to attend the Loya Jirga grand assembly in Kabul in June, but he was arrested, thrown in jail and beaten for two days and nights. He declined to speculate as to why he was held. He eventually made it to the assembly and has not been harmed since.
General Azimi, once a commander under Khan but now ousted from his entourage, says Khan plays the religious card to maintain his position of authority.
“Ismail Khan has no option but to use the word ‘jihad’ and other religious slogans if he wants to remain in power,” Azimi said.
Western aid workers are concerned that this trend could mean Herat, with a reputation for fine arts and culture, will move towards a more conservative and traditional way of thinking.—Reuters
