Dr. Abdullah-Former Minister of Foreign Affairs

Panjshir in the Mirror of Civilization

(Part 24)

Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, son of Ghulam Mahyyod- Din Zmaryalay (Senator of the last period of Parliament) was born in 1960 in a religious family in Kabul. Dr. Abdullah graduated from Naderia High School in 1976 and went on to study ophthalmology at Kabul University’s Department of Medicine where he received an M.D. degree in 1983. After receiving his degree, Dr. Abdullah served as the Resident Ophthalmologist at Noor Eye Institute in Kabul until 1985.

From 1985 to 1986 he worked in the Ophthalmology Hospital for Afghan Refugees in Peshawar, Pakistan and was also the Director of Healthcare for the Resistance Front. In 1986, Dr. Abdullah became the Special Advisor and Chief Assistant to Commander Ahmad Shah Masood, a distinguished figure in the Afghan resistance to the Soviet Occupation and the Taliban rule of the country, and served in that capacity until 1992. Following his service with Commander Masood, Dr. Abdullah served as the Director General in the Ministry of Defense in Kabul from 1993 until 1996.

During the years of 1996 to 2001, he served as the Deputy Foreign Minister and spokesperson for the Islamic State of Afghanistan. He became Foreign Minister in 1998. On December 22, 2001, during the Bonn Intra-Afghan talks, Dr. Abdullah was selected as the Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Interim Administration of Afghanistan under then Chairman Hamid Karzai. In June of 2002, Dr. Abdullah was again confirmed as the Minister of Foreign Affairs by the national Loya Jirga, which was comprised of 1,501 selected officials from across the country.

Dr. Abdullah is fluent in Dari, Pashto and English and also knows Arabic and French.

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Note: The source of the above biography is from a government press release distributed by the Office of the Spokesperson of the President.