Saturday, August 17, 2013

Karzai suggests the man who brought bin Laden to Afghanistan should become the next president

Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai, right, has floated Abdul Rasoul Sayyaf, left, as a possible successor.
KABUL — President Hamid Karzai has suggested that the man who brought Osama bin Laden to Afghanistan could become the country’s next leader, say people familiar with discussions ahead of April’s presidential vote.

Former Islamist warlord Abdul Rasoul Sayyaf has emerged as an unlikely—and, to Western diplomats, unsettling—favorite in recent gatherings that aim to select a consensus candidate.

At an hourslong meeting with power brokers last week, President Karzai tried to persuade Atta Mohammad Noor, the main authority in northern Afghanistan and a potential kingmaker, to support a Sayyaf presidential candidacy, according to people with knowledge of the meeting.

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