The Road to Afghanistan - George Washington University

and television. Bareq Shafi’i got the former post, Suleyman Layeq the latter. Both Parchamis weresatisfied with their appointments.At first, Taraki had some doubts regarding the candidacy of Nur Ahmad Nur to the positionof minister of the interior. However, Karmal reminded the head of the Revolutionary Council thatNur’s father, Abdul Sattar, one of the most influential landowners, had a personal army (severalthousand warriors from the Pashtun tribe Popalzai) who were deeply loyal to him. Those peoplecould be used in the interests of the new regime anywhere, including the tribal territories. Inaddition, Nur Ahmad Nur had been the head of the underground organization of Parchami officersfor a long time. Many former Interior Ministry officers were members of that organization. Basedon these arguments, Taraki accepted Nur’s candidacy.Karmal was hoping that he would be included in the first meeting between the “Sovietfriends” and Taraki after the victory of April 27. He sincerely believed that he would become thesecond-in-command in the PDPA, and that Taraki would not make any important decisionswithout consulting him. However, for some reason the Soviet ambassador had invited only Tarakito come to that crucial first meeting. So the new head of state made sure that Karmal took notice ofthat, knowing that it would greatly hurt Karmal’s self-esteem.The tipsy and jovial chairman of the Revolutionary Council, having just returned from ameeting with Puzanov in the former Palace Ark (now renamed House of the Peoples), invitedKarmal to his new residence in the middle of the night. Hafizullah Amin, who was always ready foraction, with his radiant American smile, was present at the meeting.Taraki informed his guests that the Soviet comrades very much liked the list of the topAfghan leadership that was drafted by him and Karmal. He said that tomorrow morning he wouldofficially approve and make the list public. Karmal responded that he had no objections and was151