Afghan President Hamid Karzai has presented his cabinet nominees to the parliament. Hamid Karzai was not in parliament as the list of 23 nominees was read out by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Anwar Jigdalak. Most of the key ministers with solid reputations have held on to their jobs but two politicians accused of pocketing large sums of donor money - the ministers of mines and the Hajj - have both gone. One surprise change is that Foreign Minister Rangin Spanta has lost his job, although no replacement has been announced. Ismail Khan - a former warlord from the western province of Herat who has been accused of human rights abuses and corruption, retains his post as minister of water and energy. The only female nominee is for women's affairs. Widespread fraud in the 20 August first round of elections led to Mr Karzai being stripped of the outright win he appeared to have secured. A second round run-off scheduled for 7 November was called off after Mr Karzai's sole remaining challenger, Dr Abdullah Abdullah, pulled out saying the vote could not be free and fair. Nominees includes: Defense, Gen. Abdul Rahim Wardak; Interior, Hanif Atmar; Finance, Omar Zakhilwal; Public Health, Dr. Mohammad Amin Fatemi; Agriculture, Muhammad Asif Rahimi; Justice, Mohammad Sarwar Danish; Education, Ghulam Farooq Wardak; Women's Affairs, Husn Bano Ghazanfar; Communications, Amirzai Sangeen; Counternarcotics, Gen. Khodaidad and Water and Power, Ismail Khan.Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta will remain in the post for now. Karzai has said he will make a nomination after an international conference on Afghanistan to be held in London in late January.New nominees: Higher Education Hobidullah Hobid, Economy Anwar ul-Haq Ahadi, Information and Cultural Affairs Sayed Makhdum Rahin, Mines Wahidullah Shahrani, Hajj and Mosque Enayatullah Balugh, Refugees Enayatullah Nazari, Transportation Mohammad Ullah Patash, Commerce Gulam Mohammad Aylaqi, Public Welfare Mirza Husain Abdullahi, Work and Social Affairs Ismail Manshi, Border and Tribal Affairs Hamid Gilani and Development and Rural Affairs Wais Ahmad Darmek. Karzai is asking for parliament to create a Ministry for Martyr and Disable Affairs.
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