KABUL, Aug 7 (AFP) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai has the support of many of the country`s powerful mujahedin leaders in upcoming presidential elections, a senior politician and veteran of the anti-soviet wars said Saturday.
Syed Ahmad Gilani, who heads the National Islamic Front party, said his party would back Karzai, contradicting defence minister Marshal Mohammed Qasim Fahim`s claim that most mujahedin parties would back Karzai`s main rival in the presidential race, Yunus Qanooni.
"This would be wrong if anyone claims they`re representing all mujahedin," Gilani said, referring to Fahim`s remarks.
"We are also a mujahedin party. We have been significantly involved in Jihad -- we support Karzai, he`s our candidate," he added.
Gilani, a veteran of the decade-long fight against the Russians who has powerful support in southern Afghanistan, said several mujahedin leaders, including senior Northern Alliance political leader Burhanuddin Rabbani, were also backing Karzai.
The Northern Alliance was the group of military commanders who joined US-led forces to topple the hardline Taliban regime and went on to take senior positions in Karzai`s administration.
US-backed Karzai has been accused by critics of being Washington`s man and has failed to extend his control far outside the country`s capital Kabul.
In recent weeks simmering tensions between Karzai, who hails from Afghanistan`s Pashtun majority south, and many of his ethnic Tajik ministers have spilled into the open, causing a widening rift in the government.
Fahim and Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah have come out in support of former education minister Qanooni, who has stepped down to challenge Karzai in the polls.
Fahim, who heads Afghanistan`s largest private militia, was widely tipped to be Karzai`s vice-presidential running mate but was dropped by Karzai because he was seen as a brake on the country`s slow-moving disarmament process.