Henry Kissenger
24-09-2004, 01:22
KHOST: One of the largest Pashtun tribes in southeast Afghanistan threatened on Thursday to torch the homes of voters who fail to elect incumbent Hamid Karzai in next month’s presidential vote.
“All the Terezay tribes’ people should vote for Hamid Karzi if anyone from Terezay tribe votes for other candidates, the tribe will burn their houses,” the tribe warned on local radio in the border province of Khost.
In a tape of the broadcast obtained by AFP, the statement urged both male and female members of the tribe to take part in the polls and throw their support behind Karzai, a fellow Pashtun.
“All of Terezay tribe people, including males and females have to vote for Hamid Karzai because he is the only suitable person for the presidential post,” it said.
The Terezays number between 120,000 and 150,000 and are scattered in the mountains of southern and eastern Afghanistan. Pashtuns make up the largest of Afghanistan’s ethnic minorities.
Karzai, favourite to win the October 9 polls, must draw his support from the same communities that the Taliban militants hail from. The English-speaking transitional leader will race against 17 candidates, among them former education minister, Yunus Qanooni, an ethnic Tajik who enjoys wide support in the north.
Taliban-led insurgents, from the regime, which was ousted in a US-led military campaign in late 2001 after sheltering Al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden, have threatened to disrupt the polls and attack all 18 candidates.
What is your view on this?
“All the Terezay tribes’ people should vote for Hamid Karzi if anyone from Terezay tribe votes for other candidates, the tribe will burn their houses,” the tribe warned on local radio in the border province of Khost.
In a tape of the broadcast obtained by AFP, the statement urged both male and female members of the tribe to take part in the polls and throw their support behind Karzai, a fellow Pashtun.
“All of Terezay tribe people, including males and females have to vote for Hamid Karzai because he is the only suitable person for the presidential post,” it said.
The Terezays number between 120,000 and 150,000 and are scattered in the mountains of southern and eastern Afghanistan. Pashtuns make up the largest of Afghanistan’s ethnic minorities.
Karzai, favourite to win the October 9 polls, must draw his support from the same communities that the Taliban militants hail from. The English-speaking transitional leader will race against 17 candidates, among them former education minister, Yunus Qanooni, an ethnic Tajik who enjoys wide support in the north.
Taliban-led insurgents, from the regime, which was ousted in a US-led military campaign in late 2001 after sheltering Al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden, have threatened to disrupt the polls and attack all 18 candidates.
What is your view on this?