President Hamid Karzai rarely leaves the Arg (Palace), on the very rare occasions when he does he has a large, heavily-armed escort, which also includes sharpshooters on the roof and in a fleet of armoured vehicles. Here, the President prepares to visit I
President Hamid Karzai walks the 300 metres from the Palace to his home surrounded by bodyguards and staff members
President Hamid Karzai admires the hand-made saddle given to him by President George W. Bush on his last visit to the United States of America.
President Hamid Karzai extends a hand to one of his deer in the garden of his house within the Palace compound.
President Hamid Karzai is given a short escorted tour of ISAF’s Kabul Headquarters on the day that the United States of America handed control of the majority of their soldiers to NATO command.
President Hamid Karzai holds a meeting with tribal elders which not unusually doesn’t finish until late at night.
President Hamid Karzai meets with Sibghatullah Mojaddedi who served as the first President of the Islamic State of Afghanistan after the fall of the communist regime in 1992. He was recently elected as the leader of the legislature's 102-seat upper house
President Hamid Karzai sips tea with departing British General Chris Wilson after awarding him a medal for services to Afghanistan. After tea US Lt.-General Karl Eikenberry, in charge of US forces in Afghanistan, jokes with British General Wilson, “This
President Hamid Karzai meets tribal elders from the southern provinces to hear their grievances and the effects of the war on their communities.
President Hamid Karzai greats Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, a former warlord commander of a Pashtun militia who fought against Soviet occupying forces in Afghanistan during the 1980s, forming a close relationship with Osama bin Laden during the jihad against Soviet
‘Iftar’, the evening meal for breaking the fast during the month of Ramadan. President Hamid Karzai had invited the Policy Assistance Group which consists of Afghan government ministers, foreign ambassadors, European Union, United Nations, and World B
President Hamid Karzai during a banquet at the Gul Khana Palace for two US senators and dignitaries. On Karzai’s left is his National Security Advisor, Zalmay Rasul, on his right, his Minister of Defence, General Abdul Rahim Wardak.
President Hamid Karzai stands in front of a map of Afghanistan in the outer office to his chief of staff.
President Hamid Karzai and his aide and bodyguard.
Late at night, President Hamid Karzai sits in his favourite chair in his office in the Gul Khana Palace with a framed portrait of the young man who put himself in the line of fire to save President’s Karzai’s life during an assassination attempt.
President Hamid Karzai in his favourite office in the Gul Khana Palace with Mullah Salam Rocketi, a former warlord from Zabul Province, who earned the nickname “Rocketi” for his love of high-tech weapons and for being so good at firing rockets at Sovi
President Hamid Karzai and tribal elders finish a thanksgiving prayer before commencing their meeting.
President Hamid Karzai meets with a delegation and has his National Security Advisor sit next to him.
President Hamid Karzai gives presents after evening prayers on Friday
President Hamid Karzai at the Palace mosque during Friday prayers.
President Hamid Karzai leaves the Palace mosque after Friday prayers.
President Hamid Karzai leaves the Palace mosque after Friday prayers.
President Hamid Karzai, in the garden of his home in the Palace compound, rarely has time to relax. He misses not having time to read poetry and some of his favourites such as the Irish poet William Yeats.
President Hamid Karzai during a rare quiet and unguarded moment as his strolls through the garden of his home in the Palace compound.