New Afghan leader begins work

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Afghan leaders have a long tradition of dramatic entrances and exits, but Hamid Karzai is playing against type.

The 43-year-old hereditary tribal leader, set to take office next week as Afghanistan's interim prime minister, spent a workmanlike first day in his capital on Thursday, shunning the spotlight in favor of meetings meant to defuse tensions in advance of the power handover.

After slipping into the city hours before dawn, under cover of curfew and darkness, Karzai devoted the day to courtesy calls, traveling in a two-car convoy of green Land Cruisers rather than a sleek black motorcade. Throughout an overcast winter day, he courted ally and rival alike, cementing links with senior ministers-to-be, some of whom he hardly knows.

Despite the lack of a triumphal entrance, word of Karzai's presence quickly spread among a war-weary citizenry that is pinning enormous hopes on his administration, to be sworn in Dec. 22.

'I want peace'

"I want peace, food, a job and education for my children -- that is the kind of country I hope we will have," said 38-year-old widow Lailoma Karimi, shopping for spices in Kabul's shabby but bustling central market. "I was a teacher for 12 years, but under the Taliban I could not work. I want things to be different now."

Karzai's first day in Kabul -- which came exactly one month after the Taliban fled the city in the face of the advancing northern alliance -- provided what could be an early glimpse of his governing style.

He paid tribute to Burhanuddin Rabbani, the cantankerous and unpopular outgoing president, who was in charge when the Taliban swept in five years ago and would clearly have liked to be reinstalled. But putting the seal on his own authority, Karzai quickly made Kabul's battered presidential palace his base of operations for the day.

Karzai has scant acquaintance with incoming senior ministers -- Abdullah, Mohammed Fahim and Younous Qanooni, respectively. They are veterans of the northern alliance and did not move in the Pashtun tribal circles where Karzai's power base lies.

But both sides have a strong interest in partnership. Fahim and Qanooni embraced Karzai like a brother when he arrived in the midnight chill at Bagram airbase, north of Kabul. Abdullah was out of town, but has hailed the "historic era" that will begin with the new government's installation.

Karzai also met with the deputy United Nations envoy, Francesc Vendrell, with whom he will likely work closely as momentum gathers for the early deployment of the peacekeeping force.