Afghan Biographies

Karzai, Abdul Qayyum, Qayum


Name Karzai, Abdul Qayyum, Qayum
Ethnic backgr. Pashtun
Date of birth 1957
Function/Grade Presidential Candidate 2014 Election
History and Biodata

2. Previous Functions:
Wolesi Jirga Member 2005 MP MNA Kandahar
Presidential Candidate 2014 Election

3. Biodata:
Karzai_QayyumAbdul Qayum Karzai was born in Karz 1957, Kandahar Province. He has an M.A. from USC and is President Hamid Karzai's older brother (one of six brothers and one sister), a businessman and a former member of the National Assembly (parliament). After growing up in Kandahar, the elder Karzai left his home country at the age of 23 in 1969 to train as a pilot of the Afghan air force in the United States. Motion sickness cut short that career. He is married to Patricia, a lady who is a US citizen. They have two grown up children. (20131230) Many Afghans were very critical of Abdul Qayum Karzai for his very poor attendance in parliament. In the summer of 2008, the speaker of the parliament, Yunis Qanuni began publishing the regular attendance tallies, and this put added pressure on Karzai to respond.

In October 2008, Abdul Qayum Karzai gave up his seat in the parliament and cited health problems as the reason he missed so many parliamentary sessions. Abdul Qayyum Karzai, on behalf of the Karzai family, owned and ran Afghan restaurants in the USA. Qayum Karzai has also been involved in secret meetings to work out some sort of peace agreement with the Taliban. He has even traveled to Saudi Arabia to see if he can get their help as well in terms of bringing the Taliban to the negotiating table, and ending the Taliban war against the Afghan government. He bagged most votes in Wolesi Jirga Elections 2005. He has been accused by his rivals of being involved in drugs trafficking. In Wolesi Jirga 2005 he was a member of the Narcotics Committee. He has been treated for his heart or kidney problems in the USA.

Qayum's primary companies, Technologists Inc., Rosslyn, Va. and Daman Construction, win every government contract without having to deal with the nuisance of free market competition, which allows Qayum Karzai to reap healthy margins by, for example, selling $4 million generators to the governor of Kandahar for $50 million. Hamid Wardak, son of Defense Minister, is also involved in that company.

As 60% owner of the notorious Watan Risk Management firm Qayum has rewarded a number of insurgent commanders with cuts of NATO security and logistics contracts. Qayum's control of the media has reduced southern Afghanistan to a de facto totalitarian state.(20120428)

Mahmud Karzai, who is  another elder brother of the Afghan president, confirmed that Qayum Karzai was preparing to contest the next Afghan presidential election, due in 2014. Mahmud Karzai said President Karzai has so far not indicated whether he will support his brother's candidacy. There has been no announcement yet from Qayum Karzai on whether he will seek the presidency.(20120612)
Qayum Karzai (Pashtun) stood as a candidate for presidential election 2014 with his First vice president, Wahidullah Shahrani (Uzbek) and Second vice president, Ibrahim Qasmi (Hazara) Mohammad Ebrahim Qasimi, was disqualified for 2014 presidential election because of his dual nationality (Afghan and Canadian nationality). Karzai`s election team on 20131021introduced Mohammad Noor Akbari as his replacement to the Independent Election Commission (IEC).(20131023)
Abdul Qayoum Karzai and a number of Jirga members announced on 20140228 afternoon that Karzai will continue his presidential campaign. Supposedly, the decision was based on the propositions of 187 Jirga members. Two weeks ago, 187 Pashtun tribal elders from all over Afghanistan gathered in Kabul to work on forming an alliance in favor of Zalmay Rassoul and Qayum Karzai to give in of the other. "It would have been best if the candidates were united. Since we did not reach a decision, the Jirga ended," Jirga Deputy Muhammad Ameen Waqad said.(20140228)

Karzais family lives in the USA.
He speaks pashtu and english.
 

Last Modified 2014-06-08
Established 2009-10-12