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Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Rangin Dadfar Spanta
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Foreign Minister Dr. Rangin Dadfar Spanta was born in the Karokh district of Herat Province in 1954. A family of wealthy landowners, his father was elected to Afghanistan's National Assembly in the 1960s during the reign of King Mohammad Zaher Shah. Dr. Spanta finished his primary and secondary schooling in Herat before enrolling at Kabul University, and left for Turkey to advance his studies in 1976. After the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Dr. Spanta traveled to Iran, joining Afghanistan's resistance movement and becoming involved in the publication "Sada-ye Afghanistan" (Voice of Afghanistan). From Iran, he traveled to Pakistan, continuing his resistance activities there. Dr. Spanta settled in West Germany in 1982. In 1991, he earned a doctorate from Aachen University, and was a professor there for the next 13 years. He was also director of the university's Third World Studies Institute. Aside from academics, Dr. Spanta also served as a spokesperson for the Alliance for Democracy in Afghanistan and was active in Germany's Green Party. In January 2005, Dr. Spanta returned to teach at Kabul University, and later became Senior Advisor on International Affairs to H.E. President Hamid Karzai. The President nominated him as Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Parliament approved on April 20, 2006. Dr. Spanta was sworn in by President Karzai on May 2, 2006. |