Sibghatullah Mojaddedi

Sibghatullah Mojaddedi صبغت الله مجددی
Mojaddedi in September 2014
President of Afghanistan Acting
In office 28 April 1992 – 28 June 1992
Prime Minister	Abdul Sabur Farid Kuhestani
Preceded by	Abdul Rahim Hatef (Acting)
Succeeded by	Burhanuddin Rabbani
Personal details
Born	1926 (age 98–99) Afghanistan
Political party	Afghan National Liberation Front
Religion	Sunni Islam

Sibghatullah Mojaddedi (Pashto: صبغت الله مجددی‎‎, born c. 1926) is a politician in Afghanistan, who served as Acting President after the fall of Mohammad Najibullah's government in April 1992. He is also the founder of the Afghan National Liberation Front, and served as the chairman of the 2003 loya jirga that approved Afghanistan's new constitution. In 2005 he was appointed chairman of the Meshrano Jirga, upper house of the National Assembly of Afghanistan, and was reappointed as a member in 2011. He also serves on the Afghan High Peace Council. While he was reported to have died on 9 February 2016, he was subsequently reported to have been present at a ceremony commemorating the 27th anniversary of the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan on 15 February 2016.

Early years

Mojaddedi was born between 1925 and 1929 in Afghanistan. His family, the Mojaddedis, are a well-known family of religious scholars from Kabul who trace their ancestry to Mujaddid Ahmad Sirhindi, a prominent 16th-century Islamic scholar and Naqshbandi Sufi. Ethnically, the Mojaddedis are categorized as Pashtuns.

Mojaddedi studied Islamic Law and Jurisprudence at al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt. In 1952 he returned to Afghanistan to teach in high schools and at Kabul University, where he became known as an advocate of Afghan independence. In 1959 Mojaddedi was accused of conspiring against then Soviet Prime Minister Nikita Khrushchev and was imprisoned until 1964. He spent many of the following years, including the period of Taliban rule, in exile in several countries such as Denmark and Pakistan before his entry into Afghan politics.

Politics

Further information: Politics of Afghanistan

Mojaddedi is considered a moderate Muslim leader. He is a member of the Jebh-e-Nejat-e Melli (National Liberation Front). In 1989 the Afghan Interim Government appointed him as the president of the country. In 1992, he was the chair of the Islamic Jihad Council that was set up to establish a post-Soviet Afghan government. This position lasted three months, although some sources say he stayed for only two months. In May 1992, Burhanuddin Rabbani established a new leadership council. This council undermined Mojaddedi's leadership, resulting in his resignation and handing over power to a new council. During this time in 1992, when Mojaddedi was President of Afghanistan, the Ariana plane carrying him to Kabul was hit by an RPG as it was landing at Kabul International Airport. The plane landed safely, with no fatalities.

After the fall of the Taliban in 2001, Mojaddedi returned to Afghanistan from Pakistan and became chairman of the Loya Jirga, the assembly which approved Afghanistan's new constitution. In 2005 he became chairman of the Meshrano Jirga, Afghanistan's upper house of the National Assembly of Afghanistan, and he was reappointed as member in 2011. He also serves on the Afghan High Peace Council. Two suicide bombers carried out an attack in Kabul on 12 March 2006 against Mojaddedi, while he was a member of the upper house and head of a reconciliation committee aimed at engaging former Taliban members. The attackers blew up a vehicle filled with explosives next to his car as he was being driven through the streets. Four pedestrians were killed and Mojaddedi was slightly injured, with burns to his face and hands. On 26 August 2015 Mojaddedi launched a new political party, the Council of Jihad and National Political Parties.

External links

• Biography of Sibghatullah Mojaddedi
• Afghanistan National Independent Peace and Reconciliation Commission

Political offices
Preceded by Abdul Rahim Hatef Acting	President of Afghanistan Acting 1992	Succeeded by Burhanuddin Rabbani