Abdullah Abdullah - 2009 runner-up back in fray
Abdullah Abdullah, 54, was the runner-up in the 2009 presidential election with 30.5 per cent of the votes. After alleging fraud he bowed out of the race, thus avoiding a second round. In 2010 he set up the Coalition for Change and Hope, a grouping of anti-Karzai parties that became the National Coalition of Afghanistan in 2011.
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Born of a Pashtun father and Tajik mother, he was a member of the Tajik-dominated
Northern Alliance when it fought against Soviet occupation and the Taliban and was close to Alliance leader Ahmad Shah Masood, a national hero murdered by suicide-bombers just before the 9/11 attacks on the US.
The backing of Mohammad Mohaqiq, who was on Hamid Karzai's ticket in 2009, should bring in votes from the Hazara ethnic group.
Running mates:
- First vice-president, Mohammad Khan;
- Second vice-president, Mohammad Mohaqiq.
Read Abdullah Abdullah's life in dates.
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