Sarwar Ahmedzai is a citizen of

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

who was a presidential candidate in 2009 and

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

. Presidential Candidates - List of Nominees
He served as Deputy National Security Advisor to President

Ashraf Ghani Mohammad Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai (born 19 May 1949) is an Afghan former politician and economist who served as the president of Afghanistan from September 2014 until August 2021, when his government was 2021 Taliban offensive, overthrown by the Ta ...

until the overthrow of his government by

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) ...

Academic career

Sarwar Ahmedzai was born in the Logar Province of Afghanistan. At the age of 7, his family moved to

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

due to the Soviet-Afghan war. He completed his education in Pakistan. At the age of 16, Ahmedzai was the first Afghan refugee to be sent to the U.S. as a foreign exchange student, and graduated from a high school in Virginia. He earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

at Edwards College,

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

. He earned a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

international relations International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...

from the

University of Peshawar The University of Peshawar (; ; ; abbreviated UoP; known more popularly as Peshawar University) is a public research university located in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The university is one of the oldest universities in the provi ...

. He received a law degree from the University of Peshawar's Law College. During his time at Peshawar University, Ahmedzai was elected central chairman of the Afghan Students Union (ASU) in 1990, and served until 1996. According to a profile prepared by the ''

Pajhwok Afghan News Pajhwok Afghan News () () is Afghanistan's largest independent news agency with its headquarters in Kabul. In addition to 24-hour general news reporting, it also publishes special investigative reports about important topics relating to Afghanist ...

'', under his leadership, the organization aided thousands of Afghan students with books. Ahmedzai led two delegations to Afghanistan, in 1993 and 1994, to try to mediate between the warring factions

Burhanuddin Rabbani Burhānuddīn Rabbānī (; 20 September 1940 – 20 September 2011) was an Afghanistan, Afghan politician and teacher who served as the sixth president of Afghanistan from 1992 to 1996, and again from November to December 2001 (in exile from 199 ...

and Gulbadin Hekmatyar, in the civil war that followed the overthrow of the communist regime in 1992. Rabbani and Hekmatyar were then the nominal president and nominal prime minister of a fractured Afghanistan.

Political career

Ahmedzai served on the first

Loya Jirga A jirga (, ''jərga'') is an assembly of leaders that makes decisions by consensus according to Pashtunwali, the Pashtun social code. It is conducted in order to settle disputes among the Pashtuns, but also by members of other ethnic groups who ...

to follow the overthrow of the

in 2002. According to the ''Pajhwok Afghan News'' profile, he served as a coalition builder in the Loya Jirga. According to the ''Pajhwok Afghan News'' profile he drafted an important "Afghanistan Country Report – 2009". During the 2009 presidential elections he stood 6th in a field of 38.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmedzai, Sarwar Living people Afghan politicians 1971 births Afghan expatriates in Pakistan Pashtun politicians Edwardes College alumni University of Peshawar alumni