Defiant ex-Afghan governor vows to stay on his post

By Shadi Khan Saif

KABUL, Afghanistan

The former Afghan governor in the northern province has vowed to stay at his post despite his removal by President Ashraf Ghani.

In a dramatic development of events, a statement released by the country’s Independent Directorate of Local Governments (IDLG) earlier this week announced that Ghani has "approved" the resignation of Balkh Governor Atta Mohammad Noor.

However, the statement did not mention when and why the longstanding governor of the strategically important province had resigned.

Noor, who is also a chief executive of the party in the coalition government, claimed his resignation was linked with a condition that more power and perks would be granted to his party.

He had called on the government to appoint more ministers, governors ambassadors abroad from his party.

Since 2004, Noor had been the governor of the Balkh province bordering Uzbekistan. Noor’s Jamiat-e-Islami party has been in power since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001 thanks to U.S. backing.

Addressing a gathering in the provincial capital Mazar-e-Sharif on Saturday, Noor particularly lashed out at his colleague and Ghani’s power-sharing Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah.

“Abdullah is 'a snake up everyone's sleeve' […] he [Abdullah] has been trying to divide the party after having risen to power through Jamiat […] we will break your teeth,” he said referring to Abdullah.

He went on to warn the Presidential Palace and the CEO's office against using the international community and foreign forces in Afghanistan to pressure him.

Among NATO members present in Afghanistan, Germany has a strong military presence in Balkh, the province so far governed by Atta.

This week, two top German officials, Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabrial and Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen have visited Afghanistan.

Earlier this year, Noor bypassed Ghani’s power-sharing Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Abdullah Abdullah -- who is also associated with the Jamiat party -- to enter formal negotiations over power-sharing matters, but the negotiations ended without any results.

He then formed a new anti-government coalition with Vice President Abdul Rasheed Dostum and Deputy CEO Mohammad Mohaqiq.