KABUL, Feb 20: Afghanistan’s defence ministry staged a major reshuffle on Thursday, unveiling a multi-ethnic department clearly aimed at dispelling accusations of heavy racial bias in the government.

“We have started certain reforms, changes and reshuffles in the structure of the ministry of defence to create a balance and ensure the multi-ethnicity of leadership,” Defence Minister Mohammad Qasim Fahim told reporters.

Mr Fahim said several key offices formerly held by ethnic Tajiks would now be filled by Pakhtoons, Uzbeks and Hazaras.

Tajiks, mostly members of the US-backed Northern Alliance which helped topple the Taliban in Dec 2001, have a stranglehold on government, despite being the second largest faction in the divided country.

Most originate from the Panjsher valley, once the indomitable powerbase of legendary Afghan resistance leader Ahmad Shah Masood, assassinated two days before the Sept 11 attacks in New York and Washington.

There have been regular complaints, particularly from the Pakhtoon community, that they have only token representation in Afghanistan’s leadership, even though President Hamid Karzai is a Pakhtoons.

Fahim, himself a Panjsheri Tajik widely seen as the true power behind the government, said the new appointments including his new Pakhtoons deputy minister General Gul Zarak would represent a greater balance.

“Mainly those who are being replaced are Tajiks, especially from Panjshir Valley,” Fahim said.

“All the time there has been talk that there is no ethnic balance in the ministry of defence, it is mainly Tajiks. That is why we decided to replace some Tajiks with some Pakhtoonss, Uzbeks, and Hazaras,” he said.

The move comes at a time when Karzai’s internationally-backed government is trying to create a new national army, along similar multi-ethnic lines, with the aim of settling racial disputes which continue to dog the war-hit nation.

It also comes ahead of a conference in Tokyo aimed at thrashing out plans to disarm Afghanistan’s massive private armies and return soldiers to civilian life. The programme was kick-started this week by a 35 million dollar cash injection from Japan.

Fahim expressed optimism over the future of the disarmament programme, despite troubles which have erupted over pioneering schemes in the country’s north.

Aid agency pulls out: Aid organizations in Kandahar on Thursday vowed to continue efforts after a key player, Mercy Corps, pulled out amid security alerts and fears of a backlash over US military action in Iraq.

The US-based agency said on Wednesday it had suspended operations in some parts of southern Afghanistan due to a deteriorating situation in the provinces of Kandahar, Helmand and Uruzgan.—AFP