Qayum Karzai
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Abdul Qayum Karzai (; 1947 – 29 May 2024) was an Afghan politician and businessman. He was the elder brother of former
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...
Hamid Karzai Hamid Karzai (born 24 December 1957) is an Afghan politician who served as the fourth president of Afghanistan from 2002 to 2014, including as the first president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan from 2004 to 2014. He previously served a ...
. His brothers also include Mahmoud Karzai and the assassinated Ahmed Wali Karzai. Abdul Qayum was a businessman in the United States before entering into Afghan politics. He served as a member of the Wolesi Jirga, the lower house of the
National Assembly of Afghanistan The National Assembly (, ), also known as the Parliament of Afghanistan or simply as the Afghan Parliament, was the legislature of Afghanistan in various forms from the monarchy, republican, communist and liberal democratic periods between 1931 ...
. He retired for health reasons and had "reportedly been involved in backchannel peace diplomacy with the
Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...
through Saudi Arabia." It was reported in June 2012 that he planned to run in the 2014 Afghan presidential election. His brother, Mahmoud Karzai was promoting Qayum Karzai for President as Hamid Karzai prepared his departure from office in 2014. Under pressure from his brother Hamid Karzai, Qayum decided to quit the race in March 2014 and endorse Zalmai Rassoul.


Early life and education

Born in Kandahar in 1947, He was the son of Abdul Ahad Karzai and an elder brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai. His other brothers were Mahmoud Karzai, involved in the Kabul Bank scandal and other scandals, Ahmed Wali Karzai who was assassinated by his bodyguard, and Shah Wali Karzai. He also had one sister, named Fauzia Karzai. According to a report by the Navy Postgraduate School, the Karzai family is from the Popolzai tribe of the
Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...
ethnic group. The report states that Qayum had a
Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...
degree from
American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...
in
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
and owned five restaurants in
Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
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Death

Karzai's death in Maryland was reported on 30 May 2024.


Career

In 2002, Afghan President Hamid Karzai appointed Qayum Karzai as a delegate to the Constitutional Loya Jirga. He sat on the second of the Loya Jirga's ten committees, chaired by
Abdul Rasul Sayyaf Abdulrab Rasul Sayyaf ( ; ; born 1946) is an exiled Afghan politician and former Afghan mujahideen, mujahideen commander. He took part in the war against the Marxist–Leninist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) government in the 198 ...
. Many Afghans were critical of Qayum Karzai, for various reasons, including his very close connections to his controversial brothers Mahmoud Karzai and assassinated Ahmed Wali Karzai, and for his poor attendance in
parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
. In 2008, the speaker of the parliament,
Yunus Qanuni Yunus Qanuni (, born on 10 May 1957 in Panjshir Valley) is an Afghan politician who was Vice President of Afghanistan. An ethnic Tajik, Qanooni is the leader of the '' Afghanistan e Naween'' (New Afghanistan) political party and former Speaker ...
, began publishing the regular attendance tallies, and this put added pressure on Karzai to respond. In October 2008, Qayum Karzai gave up his seat in the parliament, citing health problems as the reason he missed so many parliamentary sessions. Qayum Karzai was also reportedly involved in secret meetings to work out some sort of
peace agreement A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, which formally ends a state of war between the parties. It is different from an armistice, which is an agreement to stop hostilities; a surr ...
with the former Taliban government. He traveled to Saudi Arabia to enlist their help in bringing the Taliban to the negotiating table, and ending the
Taliban insurgency {{Infobox military conflict , partof = the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021), the Afghan conflict, and the War on terror , image = 2021 Taliban Offensive.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Map of th ...
against the Afghan government. Karzai intended to run for
president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...
in the 2014 presidential election to succeed his brother, despite not having Hamid's support. However, he dropped out of the race in early March 2014, endorsing Zalmai Rassoul.


United States

Qayum Karzai's first restaurant was in
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
. He owned three restaurants in
Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
: the Helmand (an Afghan restaurant), Tapas Teatro, and Helmand Kabobi. Qayum's brother Mahmood Karzai owns The Helmand restaurant in
Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...
.


Allegations regarding business dealings

Independent investigative journalists, Afghan businessmen, and others have alleged that Qayum Karzai used questionable and heavy-handed methods in Afghanistan, especially in dealing with business rivals. Some have brought forth serious ethics charges and alleged organized effort to control the news media in parts of Afghanistan and to intimidate business rivals, allegedly driving some out of Afghanistan. In 2012, shocking revelations were exposed in several major news stories where fellow Afghan associates of Qayum Karzai brought forth serious allegations about various controversial business dealings. Naseem Pashtoon Sharifi, a businessman, and major independent newspaper, media and advertising company owner, in
Kandahar Kandahar is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city, after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118 in 2015. It is the capital of Kandahar Pro ...
is reported to have been driven out of Afghanistan by these methods and went public with major and detailed accusations against Qayum Karzai and his associates. Sharifi reportedly fled Afghanistan out of fear of President Karzai's brother and has detailed information about Qayum Karzai's alleged business dealings in Afghanistan that he says caused him to flee for his life and abandon major business ventures, property and investments in Afghanistan. According to a December 2010 report in the ''
Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...
'', "But further investigation shows Sharifi’s story is far from one man’s grudge. Four other Kandahar sources, speaking to ''The Star'' on condition of anonymity, confirmed his account that Karzai muscle-flexing removed him from the city, with Karzai interests promptly taking over the bulk of his business." Journalists from the ''Toronto Star'', ''
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'', ''
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'', the ''Boiling Frog Post'' and others raised concerns and undertook investigative reporting about these matters. According to journalist Michael Hughes of the ''Washington Examiner'' (18 April 2012) and ''Salem News'': "Qayum's control of the media has reduced southern Afghanistan to a ''de facto'' totalitarian state. This doesn't seem to bother NATO a bit considering it finances Qayum-owned media outlets which, incidentally, never seem to report anything negative about the Karzai regime...." According to investigate research, and an editorial in ''The Washington Times'' (21 May 2012) entitled "Afghanistan’s corruption breeds failure: Successful withdrawal requires tougher action against official thievery," by Malou Innocent and Danny Marku: "But Qayum Karzai is not the only Karzai involved in such strong-arm tactics against his business rivals. Hamid Karzai’s younger half-brother, the late Ahmed Wali Karzai, once consolidated his power by acting as both the powerful chairman of Kandahar’s provincial council and by relying on a mafialike network of militias that made millions of dollars by bribing security companies that benefited from contracts escorting NATO convoys." Sibel Edmonds researched and wrote about controversies surrounding Qayum Karzai's, Ahmed Wali Karzai's and Mahmoud Karzai's various business dealings in Afghanistan. The National Security Whistleblowers Coalition also raised concerns.


Personal life and death

Karzai later resided in
Columbia, Maryland Columbia is a planned community in Howard County, Maryland, United States, consisting of 10 self-contained villages. With a population of 104,681 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the second-most-populous community in Maryland ...
, where he died on 29 May 2024, at age 77.


References


See also

* Corruption in Afghanistan * Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction {{DEFAULTSORT:Karzai, Qayum 1947 births 2024 deaths Afghan Sunni Muslims Members of the House of the People (Afghanistan) Pashtun politicians Pashtun businesspeople People from Kandahar Afghan emigrants to the United States