KABUL/SHIBERGHAN (Pajhwok): Thousands of residents of Kabul and Jawzjan province on Sunday announced their support for presidential hopeful Zalmai Rassoul.    
At a gathering in the Loya Jirga Tent in Kabul, hundreds of people from the Barakzai tribe council pledged support to Rassoul’s bid for presidency.    
Haji Mohammad Ibrahim Barakzai, the tribal council’s head, said they had decided after consultations to support a team that was not involved in corruption, land grab and killings.
Representatives of people with disabilities, sportsmen and other tribes also assured the candidate of backing, Barakzai said, insisting the team was competent to ensure peace, protect national sovereignty and boost the economy.   
Jawed Zaman, a Nangarhar provincial council member who attended the gathering, asked the ex-foreign minister not to forget the nation if he won the April 5 vote.  
At a separate gathering in northern Jawzjan province, participants hailed Rassoul’s agenda as fruitful for Afghanistan’s future.
Ghulam Nabi, the runner’s election campaign office head in Jawzjan, explained Rassoul’s agenda of economic and political reforms, fight against corruption and protection of human rights. 
Mohammad Hanif, a resident of provincial capital, said: “We support Rassoul because he has had role in bloodshed over the past three decades.”
ra/mud