President Hamid Karzai surprised many here on Monday by entering the October presidential race with the brother of a martyred hero as his choice for vice president, rather than his powerful defense minister. Mr. Karzai’s decision to drop the defense minister, Marshal Muhammad Qasim Fahim, showed the growing divide within the government over the persistence of armed private militias, which the president has called the greatest threat to the country’s nascent democracy. Marshal Fahim has the support of many of the powerful warlords and regional commanders in the north who have felt increasingly unhappy with efforts to disarm them and to reduce their power in the central government.Full Story
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