Background: 

Abdullah Abdullah has been at the core of diplomatic efforts to achieve peace and stabilize Afghanistan since taking on the role of Foreign Minister under President Hamid Karzai.  His mission, to promote national reconciliation as outlined in the Bonn Agreement and to encourage broad international support for Afghanistan’s reconstruction efforts, is a monumental task considering Afghanistan’s two-decade history of Soviet occupation, civil war and Taliban rule. Abdullah played a key role in the UN-sponsored Afghan Peace Conference in Bonn (December 2001) and significantly contributed to the successful outcome of the recently concluded national Loya Jirga (Grand Council). 

Abdullah first came to prominence as the Northern Alliance’s deputy foreign minister and was closely aligned with Ahmed Shah Massoud, the alliance commander assassinated by agents of Osama bin Laden just prior to September 11.  A graduate of the Medical College at Kabul University, Abdullah worked at the Sayed Jamaluddin-s-Afghani Eye Hospital for Afghan refugees in Pakistan as head of the Health Department until joining the Panjsher Resistance Front.

This collaborative event is part of a joint effort by GW Law School and Elliott School of International Affairs faculty members to help rebuild Afghanistan's infrastructure.  GW representatives met with Mahbooba Hoquqmal, then dean of the Kabul Law faculty and current advisor to President Karzai for Women's Affairs, and Ahmad Nader Nadery of the Office of Human Rights in Afghanistan, to find ways to assist the Kabul University.  As a result, a collection of law books were donated to Kabul University Law School and will soon be shipped to Afghanistan with the assistance of the U.S. Department of State.

Media interested in covering this event should contact

Eric Solomon at (202) 994-3087.

-GW-

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