ANALYSIS - FOR AFGHANISTAN, A YEAR OF UNREST AND HOPE.

KABUL, Jan 2 Asia Pulse - Post-Taliban Afghanistan witnessed a number of developments, both negative and positive, in the outgoing year. Before ringing in the New Year, sparing a thought for 2005 will be necessary for sifting the cheerful events from the sombre happenings.

On the positive side, the year dawned weeks after a democratically-elected head of state in President Hamid Karzai took office in the wake of the presidential ballot held in October 2004. Karzai's installation was followed by a series of events that culminated in the holding of parliamentary elections in September and the swearing-in of parliament at the fad-end of the year.

A raging Taliban insurgency did cause a trail of death and destruction putting a damper on the encouraging occurrences, but 2005 was not exactly the annus horribilis as many tend to clepe it. Following are some of the significant developments on the political front:

- President Hamid Karzai reshuffled several governors of the southern and eastern provinces in a bid to improve the security situation and accelerate the war on poppy cultivation, a grave concern for donor countries and international organisations supporting Afghanistan in achieving peace and stability;

- Prominent warlords and commanders were disarmed and corralled at the centre to weaken their grip on their respective areas. They were effectively discouraged from propping up their private militias. Prominent among them were Uzbek warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum and Commander Hazrat Ali. Former Herat governor Ismail Khan was already here acting as minister for energy and water;

- The United States signed a long-term security partnership accord with Afghanistan, which former warlord and fugitive chief of the Hizb-i-Islami Gulbadin Hekmatyar called a sell-out;

- Voter registration took place across the country, listing 12.5 million people ahead of the parliamentary polls;