“The Sorrows of Kabul… and Karzai’s Carpet”
Ambassador Abd al-Mahmoud Abd al-Haleem
The aircraft was crossing one towering mountain range after another on its way to Kabul, as though leafing through volumes of the country’s long and tumultuous history. The sound of the engines seemed like drums summoning memories of the victories of its warriors over countless invaders who had passed through this land, land on which scarcely a spot remains free of the strike of a sword or the thrust of a spear. And from ancient Khorasan and from Balkh, the voice of Jalal al-Din Rumi seemed to call out: Be patient… for it is through the wound that the light enters.
The cabin microphone announced to the passengers that we were approaching Hamid Karzai International Airport. I looked closely at the faces around me: some Afghans, Indian traders, and several international officials—the kind who multiply whenever a crisis erupts. The Ariana Afghan Airlines plane that had carried us from New Delhi landed with a violent jolt, unnoticed by anyone in a country whose features have long been etched by violence and generations of war. The captain announced our arrival and expressed his hope to see us on another Ariana flight—Ariana meaning “Land of the Noble.”
On the modest terminal walls it was easy to read the story of a country rich in history, cultural heritage, and civilizational depth—its political and commercial significance, its place on the Silk Road, its function as a buffer between Russian and British power, the battleground of great-power rivalries, internal wars, the end of the monarchy, the Soviet occupation, the resistance, the rise of the Taliban, the American intervention, the withdrawal, and the Taliban’s return.
It was in this airport that the United States evacuated its personnel. And in one of its rooms, President Ashraf Ghani had hidden, searching for a way to flee Kabul, even as Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman, entered the city triumphant.
Returning to the Ariana flight, I recall being received at the airport by an official from the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Through the Afghan Embassy in New Delhi—where I was serving as Sudan’s ambassador—we had notified them of my visit to Kabul to deliver a message of solidarity and support from former President al-Bashir to President Hamid Karzai, after relative stability had been restored to the country at that time. The Afghan ambassador who handled the arrangements was my friend Masoud Khalili, a leading figure of the “Northern Alliance” and close confidant of Ahmad Shah Massoud. He had been present at Massoud’s side at the moment of his assassination, and survived by sheer miracle—losing an eye and suffering severe leg injuries. Ahmad Shah Massoud, the “Lion of Panjshir,” had been killed by suicide operatives from al-Qaeda who disguised themselves as journalists to conduct an interview. Their device detonated minutes after the interview began on 9 September 2001—just two days before the attacks of 11 September in the United States.
The Foreign Ministry official’s welcome was warm and courteous, and he accompanied us to one of the few hotels in the city for the duration of the mission. Kabul appeared like a patient trying to recover from a long illness, crippled by destruction across many neighbourhoods, ravaged by warlords. I was able to visit the Loya Jirga—the parliament—as well as the UN’s representative in Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi, and his deputy, our compatriot Amin Makki Madani.
Only “Chicken Street,” the long road running through the city’s main market, still pulsed with life. It was filled with fine garments and luxurious goods that brought to mind Mogadishu’s bustling Bakaara Market during the civil war—places I knew from the work of the “IGAD Committee on Somalia” as we attempted to mediate between factions, particularly Aidid and Ali Mahdi.
As expected, the security presence around the presidential compound was stringent on the day I met President Karzai. He received me warmly, expressed deep appreciation for the message and for bilateral relations, and seemed genuinely pleased as he presented me—at the end of the meeting—with a beautiful Afghan carpet.
Time moved on… and history began sketching familiar chapters once again. The Taliban returned after a dramatic American withdrawal. Ahmad Massoud, son of Ahmad Shah Massoud, now leads a resistance movement called the National Resistance Front against the Taliban. News reports speak of border clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan, and simultaneous efforts to calm tensions between Afghanistan and Tajikistan, which hosts opposition elements to the Taliban. Afghanistan is once more back at the centre of world news—and with it, the memory of that visit resurges. Ariana Airlines continues to struggle with air turbulence and operational restrictions imposed by the European Union. As for Karzai, he has withdrawn to a quiet life in Kabul, a public figure distanced from political entanglements.
As for the carpet he gifted me—
it was looted from my home, along with many other belongings, like those of thousands of my fellow citizens in my beloved country. There were no photographs of my meeting with the Afghan president; photography had been prohibited since the assassination of Ahmad Shah Massoud—an understandable precaution. The world, after all, is still not a safe place.
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