Brewing power struggle in Kabul

Carving a pathway for travelers and warriors alike, Afghanistan's crystalline Panjshir River has long been the guide through the mountainous northern provinces.

Today, many of the valley's lush fields are lined with rows of new Russian military tanks and rocket launchers. This new stockpile, along with most of the country's artillery reserves and a 50,000-strong militia, are under the thumb of the Afghan minister of defense, Mohammed Qasim Fahim.

As a top leader in the Northern Alliance - the primary military faction that joined with the US to oust the Taliban - Mr. Fahim is making no secret of the fact that he and his fellow ethnic Tajiks are not willing to be sidelined during the run-up to next year's elections. A power struggle between Fahim and President Hamid Karzai, an ethnic Pashtun, has Western diplomats and coalition commanders concerned. Any change in leadership is seen as an unwanted distraction from the process of nationbuilding and the war on terrorism.

Following the assassination of Ahmad Shah Masood in September 2001, Fahim seized the leadership of the Northern Alliance and made a name for himself by assisting US-led forces in toppling the Taliban government in Kabul.

He has since risen to the top of the heap of this fragmented country. Many see Mr. Karzai, whose cabinet is made up mostly of Northern Alliance loyalists, in a weaker position than Fahim with his considerable military resources.

Sitting in an oversized chair detailed in gold in Kabul's heavily fortified Ministry of Defense, Fahim denies that the materiel and manpower tucked away in Panjshir - his home region and the Northern Alliance's former stronghold - is for his own personal use.

"As the minister of defense of Afghanistan, I can assure you that I don't have any private militias," Fahim told the Monitor in a rare interview. "Any weapons that I have belong to the ministry of defense and are just being stored in Panjshir for safekeeping."

But Fahim's forswearing of any private forces comes on the heals of a new Afghan government law banning warlords from taking part in the country's politics. Critics suggest that the force is Fahim's ace in the hole, a backup option easily activated for a march on Kabul if his political ambitions are thwarted.

Fahim says he is not considering running for president at this time nor has he endorsed anyone else.

"As soon as rumors arose that a presidential candidate was announced I held a press conference and cleared up the matter that no candidate were discussed. I made it clear that we will wait until the constitution is approved and then we will discuss presidential elections," he says, referring to reports last week claimed that Fahim and other political groups had met in Kabul while Karzai was out of the country to choose another presidential candidate.

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