Ahmad Zia Masood- First Vice-President Of Afghanistan

Panjshir in the Mirror of Civilization

(Part 17)

Ahmad Zia Masood-who is brother of Ahmad Sha Massoud- was born in Ghazni on May 1, 1956. He completed his secondary studies at the Lycée Esteqlal. In 1976, he was admitted to the Kabul Polytechnic Institute, where he studied for three years. Following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, he traveled with his brother, Ahmad Shah Masood, to the Panjshir Valley with the first group of Mujahidin. For the next three years, he fought alongside his brother in the Panjshir against the Soviet forces. For the next 12 years, he represented the Panjshir front and served as the Special Representative of Ahmad Shah Masood in Pakistan. During this time, he worked closely with other Mujahidin commanders, international organizations, and countries that were supporting the Afghan resistance.

In the late 1990s, Ahmad Zia Masood continued his political and diplomatic activities, working to raise the profile of Afghanistan on the international stage, and to call attention to the horrors of the Taliban. In December, 2002, he was appointed Ambassador of Afghanistan to the Russian Federation, a post he maintained until July, 2004, when he returned to Afghanistan at the request of President Karzai, and agreed to run in the elections for the position of Vice-President. He speaks Dari, Pashto, English and some Russian and French. He is married and has one son and three daughters. Ahmad Zia Masood was sworn in as First Vice-President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan on December 7, 2004. (1)

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(1)Afghanistan Online