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Hundreds in Kandahar Rally to Support Afghan President
Tuesday, September 10, 2002
(2:14 PM ET)
By Tini Tran
Associated Press Writer

Speakers at Tuesday's rally called on the people to aid the government in ferreting out Taliban and al-Qaida holdouts and anti-government factions. "We know that these people are Afghanistan's enemy. They are hiding in Pakistan and Iran and they are planning plots against this government," one tribal leader said. "Open your eyes and if you see someone who wants to disrupt the situation, hand them over to the government."

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- AP
Hundreds of people held up giant Afghan flags and waved large photos of President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday to show support for the new national government and the leader they nearly lost to an assassin.

Standing on a stage in the town square, Mayor Abdullah Popal told the crowd, "People of Afghanistan support Hamid Karzai. We condemn all our enemies, foreign and internal. We want peace and stability for our Afghanistan."

Shouts of "Long live Karzai! Long live Afghanistan!" greeted Popal's speech as the demonstration kicked off with a convoy bearing a giant presidential portrait.

Last Thursday, while Karzai was in Kandahar for his brother's wedding, a recently hired security guard fired on the presidential motorcade, missing Karzai but slightly wounding Kandahar Gov. Gul Agha Sherzai.
(More: New Jersey Online News Source)
2002 © The Associated Press.

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