by Abdullah Qazi / May 10, 2010
Updated by Christi Qazi 4/13/2018
In late 2009, Zarar Ahmad Moqbel was appointed the Minister of Counter Narcotics under President Hamid Karzai. Previously, he served as the Interior Minister for 3 years (September 30, 2005 – October 11, 2008), until he was replaced with Mohammad Hanif Atmar. President Karzai tried to appoint him instead as the Minister of Refugees after a cabinet shuffle on October 11, 2008, however, Moqbel did not show up to his confirmation by the Parliament, and later said that he did not want the job. Moqbel was also an active member of the resistance against the Taliban movement. Moqbel is from Afghanistan’s northern province of Parwan, and interestingly enough, he headed President Karzai’s 2009 presidential re-election campaign in that province. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2013 to 2015 and Minister of Interior from 30 September 2005 to 11 October 2008.