Editing Hamid Karzai (section)

==Early life and beginning of political career==
Karzai was born on 24 December 1957 in the [[Karz, Kandahar|Karz]] area of [[Kandahar|Kandahar City]] in southern Afghanistan.<ref name=theguardian>{{Cite news|first=Jason|last=Burke|title=Hard man in a hard country|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/jul/20/afghanistan?gusrc=rss&feed=global|work=The Guardian|location=UK|date=7 March 2008|access-date=14 March 2009|archive-date=2 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002173328/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/jul/20/afghanistan?gusrc=rss&feed=global|url-status=live}}</ref> Hamid belongs to the [[Popalzai]] tribe of [[Pashtuns]]. His father, [[Abdul Ahad Karzai]], served as the [[House of the People (Afghanistan)|Deputy Speaker of the Afghan Parliament]] during the 1960s. His grandfather, Khair Mohammad Khan, had fought in the 1919 [[Third Anglo-Afghan War]] and was the [[House of Elders (Afghanistan)|Deputy Speaker of the Senate]]. The [[Karzai (surname)|Karzai]] family were [[monarchism|monarchists]] and remained strong supporters of [[Mohammed Zahir Shah]], the last [[List of heads of state of Afghanistan|king of Afghanistan]]. His uncle, [[Habibullah Karzai]], served as the Afghan representative at the UN<ref name="DyckAfghanistan">{{cite news|last1=Van Dyck|first1=Jere |title=The Afghan Rulers: Fiercely Traditional Tribes|work=[[The New York Times]]|page=2|date=21 December 1981|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/12/21/world/the-afghan-rulers-fiercely-traditional-tribes.html|access-date=3 October 2010|location=United States|archive-date=18 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121018120815/http://www.nytimes.com/1981/12/21/world/the-afghan-rulers-fiercely-traditional-tribes.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and is said to have accompanied King Zahir to the United States in the early 1960s for a special meeting with U.S. President [[John F. Kennedy]].

Hamid Karzai attended [[Mir Mahmud Hotaki|Mahmood Hotaki]] Primary School in Kandahar and [[Jamāl al-Dīn al-Afghānī|Sayed Jamaluddin Afghani]] School in [[Kabul]]. He graduated from [[Habibia High School]] in Kabul in 1976.<ref>{{cite web|title=Office of the President|url=http://www.president.gov.af/sroot_eng.aspx?id=166|publisher=Islamic Republic of Afghanistan|access-date=3 October 2010|location=Afghanistan|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101127092423/http://president.gov.af/sroot_eng.aspx?id=166|archive-date=27 November 2010}}</ref> After graduating, he went to [[India]] as an exchange student in 1976, and studied for a master's degree in international relations and political science at [[Himachal Pradesh University]], obtaining his degree in 1983.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://president.gov.af/en/page/1043 |title=Biography – Office of the President |publisher=President.gov.af |access-date=22 March 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140907085823/http://president.gov.af/en/page/1043 |archive-date=7 September 2014  }}</ref> Karzai then moved to Pakistan and worked as a fundraiser for the [[anti-communist]] [[Afghan mujahideen|Afghan rebels]] during their [[Soviet–Afghan War|1980s uprising]] against the rule of Soviet-backed Afghan [[Mohammad Najibullah]].<ref name="bostonglobe">{{cite news|url=http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2005/05/22/afghan_presidents_brother_looks_back/|title=Afghan president's brother looks back|last=Stockman|first=Farah|date=22 May 2005|work=[[The Boston Globe]]|access-date=14 April 2009|archive-date=12 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512030151/http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2005/05/22/afghan_presidents_brother_looks_back/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Hamid Karzai returned to Afghanistan in early October 1988, late in the war, to assist in the rebel victory in [[Tarinkot]]. He assisted in mobilizing the Popalzai and the other Durrani tribes and helped to drive Najibullah's regime from the city. Karzai also helped negotiate the defection of five hundred of Najibullah's soldiers.<ref>Tomsen, Peter. ''The Wars of Afghanistan: Messianic Terrorism, Tribal Conflicts, and the Failure of Great Powers''.</ref> When Najibullah's [[Democratic Republic of Afghanistan|pro-Soviet government]] collapsed in 1992, the [[Peshawar Accord]]s agreed upon by the Afghan political parties established the [[Islamic State of Afghanistan]] and appointed an interim government to be followed by general elections. Karzai accompanied the first mujahideen leaders into Kabul after President Najibullah stepped down in 1992.<ref name="observer">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/jul/20/afghanistan?gusrc=rss&feed=global|title=Hard man in a hard country|last=Burke|first=Jason|date=20 July 2008|work=The Observer|access-date=14 April 2009|location=London|archive-date=2 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002173328/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/jul/20/afghanistan?gusrc=rss&feed=global|url-status=live}}</ref> He served as [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Afghanistan)|Deputy Foreign Minister]] in the government of [[Burhanuddin Rabbani]]. Karzai was arrested, however, by [[Mohammad Fahim]] (who would later become Karzai's Vice President) on charges of spying for [[Gulbuddin Hekmatyar]] in what Karzai claimed was an effort to negotiate between Hekmatyar's forces and Rabbani's government. Karzai fled from Kabul in a vehicle provided by Hekmatyar and driven by [[Gul Rahman]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20150111180506/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/43518438/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia/t/karzai-surrounds-himself-anti-american-advisers/ Karzai surrounding himself with anti-US advisers] {{cbignore|bot=medic}}, by Kathy Gannon,</ref>

When the [[Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (1996–2001)|Taliban]] emerged in the mid-1990s, Karzai initially recognized them as the legitimate government because he thought that they would stop the violence and corruption in the country.<ref name="WashingtonPost-2008-02-10">{{Cite news|first=Ann|last=Marlowe|title=Two Myths About Afghanistan|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/10/AR2008021001972.html|newspaper=The Washington Post|location=United States|page=A13|date=11 February 2008|access-date=11 February 2008|archive-date=15 May 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080515201842/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/10/AR2008021001972.html|url-status=live}}</ref> He was requested by the Taliban to serve as their ambassador, but refused, telling friends that he felt Pakistan's [[Inter-Services Intelligence]] (ISI) was wrongly using them.<ref name="PBS" /> Karzai then wanted to represent the Taliban government for the [[UN]], but the Taliban leader did not trust Karzai due to him having many links with westerners. Karzai lived in the Pakistani city of [[Quetta]] among many other [[Afghans in Pakistan|Afghan refugees]], where he worked to reinstate former Afghan king Zahir Shah, meeting the king in Italy several times. He also visited the western embassies including the [[U.S. embassy in Islamabad]] several times, talking with UN diplomat [[Norbert Holl]], and attempted to gain American support for "modern, educated Afghans" to weaken the Taliban's views. Karzai's father was reportedly annoyed with him for not making clear-cut choices and wanting to be friends with everyone.<ref name="afghanistan-analysts.org">{{Cite web|date=1 September 2014|title=Book Excerpt: Scenes of Afghan History – Hamed Karzai before 2001|url=https://www.afghanistan-analysts.org/en/reports/context-culture/scenes-of-afghan-history-hamed-karzai-before-2001/|access-date=15 November 2020|website=Afghanistan Analysts Network - English|language=ps-GB|archive-date=16 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200616161156/https://www.afghanistan-analysts.org/en/reports/context-culture/scenes-of-afghan-history-hamed-karzai-before-2001/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In July 1999, Karzai's father, Abdul Ahad Karzai, was shot dead early in the morning while returning home from a [[mosque]] in Quetta. Reports suggest that the Taliban carried out the assassination.<ref name="PBS"/> Following this incident, Karzai took over as [[Khan (title)|khan]] of the tribe and decided to work closely with the anti-Taliban [[Northern Alliance]], which was led by [[Ahmad Shah Massoud]].<ref name="afghanistan-analysts.org"/>

In 2000 and 2001, he travelled to Europe and the United States to help gather support for the anti-Taliban movement. "Massoud and Karzai warned the United States that the Taliban were connected with [[al Qaeda]] and that there was a plot for an imminent attack on the United States, but their warnings went unheeded. On September 9, 2001, two days before the [[September 11 attacks]] in the US, Massoud was assassinated by al Qaeda agents in a suicide bombing."<ref name="bio">{{cite web |publisher=[[The Biography Channel]] |url=http://www.biography.com/people/hamid-karzai-537356?page=2 |title=Biography of Hamid Karzai: 9/11 and US Invasion |page=2 |access-date=7 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130527203208/http://www.biography.com/people/hamid-karzai-537356?page=2 |archive-date=27 May 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> As the [[United States Armed Forces|U.S. Armed Forces]] were preparing for a confrontation with the Taliban in September 2001, Karzai began urging [[NATO]] states to purge his country of al-Qaeda. He said in a BBC interview, "These Arabs, together with their foreign supporters and the Taliban, destroyed miles and miles of homes and orchards and vineyards&nbsp;... They have killed Afghans. They have trained their guns on Afghan lives&nbsp;... We want them out."<ref name="PBS"/>