Warlord Will Run Against Karzai
A powerful Afghan warlord will challenge President Hamid Karzai in the country’s October elections, his spokesman said Thursday.
Abdul Rashid Dostum decided to run after securing some support across ethnic divides and after thousands of supporters rallied in a northern city, spokesman Faizullah Zaki said.
“He didn’t want to depend on his own movement, he wanted more people to support him, and today the people showed that,” Zaki said. “He will run for president.”
There was no immediate reaction from Karzai.
Dostum’s militia helped the United States topple the Taliban regime in 2001.
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