Taj Mohammad Wardak is an Afghan politician from the National Independence Party of Afghanistan (''Hezb-e Isteqlal Milli Afghanistan''). An ethnic

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 ...

, he spent some of the period of 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) ...

's administration in the

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

, and became an American citizen.

Early political career

On 19 June 1965, Wardak was appointed as the Deputy Governor of

Badakhshan Province Badakhshan Province (Dari: بدخشان) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the northeastern part of the country. It is bordered by Tajikistan's Gorno-Badakhshan in the north and the Pakistani regions of Lower and Upper C ...

.Royal Audience
Kabul Times. vol. iv. no. 71. June 19, 1965 In the 1970s, he served as Governor of Badakhshan. After serving as President of the Inspection Department in the

Ministry of Interior An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, th ...

, Wardak was appointed as Governor of Laghman on 17 June 1972.''The Kabul Times''
17 June 1972, p. 1.

Governor of Paktia

Wardak was appointed

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Paktia province Paktia (Pashto – ''Paktyā'') is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the east of the country. Forming part of the larger Loya Paktia region, Paktia Province is divided into 15 districts and has a population of roughly 623,00 ...

in Afghanistan in the winter of 2002. He served for only a few months due to opposition from local warlord Pacha Khan Zadran.

Minister of the Interior

According to Guantanamo captive

Hafizullah Shabaz Khail Dr. Hafizullah Shabaz Khail is a citizen of Afghanistan, who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States's Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba. American intelligence analysts estimate he was born in 1946, in Paktia, Afghanistan. ...

, in testimony before his

Combatant Status Review Tribunal The Combatant Status Review Tribunals (CSRT) were a set of tribunals for confirming whether detainees held by the United States at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp had been correctly designated as " enemy combatants". The CSRTs were establi ...

Taj Mohammed Wardak was the first governor

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 ...

appointed for the Province of

Paktia Paktia (Pashto – ''Paktyā'') is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the east of the country. Forming part of the larger Loya Paktia region, Paktia Province is divided into 15 districts and has a population of roughly 623,0 ...

.Summarized transcripts (.pdf)
, from

's ''

'' - pages 11-21 Khail said he was appointed the District Chief of Zormat because the new governor, Wardak, trusted him. He said Wardak was replaced as governor by Raz Mohammed Dalili when Hamid Karzai asked him to assume a position in

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

. According to the ''

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

'' the "relatively unknown" Wardak was appointed

Interior Minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and iden ...

on June 19, 2002. According to ''

Islam Online IslamOnline is a global Islamic website on the Internet providing services to Muslims and non-Muslims in several languages. Its motto is "credibility and distinction". It was founded by Yusuf al-Qaradawi. Contents The website consists of for ...

,'' Wardak's appointment raised controversy within the Ministry. They quote unnamed Ministry officials, and sentry Mohammad Halim: :''"The interior ministry is on high alert because the people say why unus Qanooni Saheb has been transferred. He should come back, It is a state of high alert and strike. We do not like Wardak, because we do not know him and we want the return of Qanooni.''" Wardak was one of several cabinet ministers Karzai appointed to a high level commission to investigate the assassination of Abdul Qadir, Vice President, and also one of Karzai's leading rivals. Qadir, like Wardak, was a Pashtun. Analysts said Karzai picked cabinet ministers from each of Afghanistan's ethnic groups, so each group would realize he was taking the investigation seriously. The commission included Vice President Mohammad Karim Khalili,

Intelligence Services An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security, military, public safety, and foreign policy objectives. Means of info ...

Director Mohammad Arif Sarwari, Rural Development Minister Mohammad Hanif Atma, and former Interim Irrigation Minister

Hajji Hajji (; sometimes spelled Hajjeh, Hadji, Haji, Alhaji, Al-Hadj, Al-Haj or El-Hajj) is an honorific title which is given to a Muslim who has successfully completed the Hajj to Mecca. Etymology ''Hajji'' is derived from the Arabic ' (), which i ...

Mangal Hussain. Wardak and Karzai differed in their interpretation of the deaths of students shot during a demonstration. Karzai called the first student known to have died a "martyr". Wardak said that student was shot by other students. Wardak was replaced on January 28, 2003, by Ali Ahmad Jalali. An article published on the web-site of

The Jamestown Foundation The Jamestown Foundation is a Washington, D.C.–based non-partisan defense policy think tank. Founded in 1984 as a platform to support Soviet defectors, its stated mission is to inform and educate policy makers about events and trends, which i ...

on June 23, 2004 described Wardak as a "presidential aide".

2004 elections

Wardak was one of the running mates for presidential candidate Mohammad Yunos Qanuni.

National Independence Party of Afghanistan

Taj Mohammad Wardak is listed as the head of the National Independence Party of Afghanistan on the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Ministry of Justice web-page that lists the licensed political parties.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wardak, Taj Mohammad Living people Governors of Paktia Province Afghan emigrants to the United States American people of Pashtun descent Interior ministers of Afghanistan National Independence Party of Afghanistan politicians Year of birth missing (living people)