KABUL (PAN): After a lot of procrastination, President Hamid Karzai has finally decided to submit a list of new ministers to the Wolesi Jirga, lower house parliament on Saturday, for a vote of confidence before the cabinet could start working, an official said on Fridayâ€.†Under mounting pressure from the West to clamp down on endemic corruption, the president handed over the list, including some new faces, to the legislative body for approval. However, the list will be officially released tomorrow (Saturday). President Karzai, re-elected in the fraud-marred August election, took a month choosing his cabinet picks since he took office for a second term on November 19. In his inauguration speech, Karzai had vowed to name a clean cabinet, crack down on graft and end the culture of impunity. A senior official at the Parliament Secretariat, Ghulam Hassan Gran, told Pajhwok Afghan News parliament would officially announce the list with a brief introduction of the new ministers. The president has retained his defence, interior, foreign affairs, finance, public health and agriculture ministers. With corruption allegations swirling around them, two acting ministers are likely to be replaced. Minister of Mines Muhammad Ibrahim Adel and Haj and Auqaf Minister Sediq Chakari may lose their cabinet slots. Both have denied reports of allegations levelled against them. At least one governor, known for his close links to Karzai and the donors' community, has been given a ministerial place. Nangarhar Governor Gul Agha Sherzai has been named as minister of urban development. According to the list, whose copy is available with this news agency, Karzai's picks are: Defence Minister Gen. Abdul Rahim Wardak; Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta; Interior Minister Hanif Atmar; Finance Minister Omar Zakhilwal; Public Health Minister Dr. Mohammad Amin Fatimie; Agriculture Minister Muhammad Asif Rahimi; Justice Minister Mohammad Sarwar Danish; Education Minister Ghulam Farooq Wardak; Women's Affairs Hosn Bano Ghazanfar; Communications Minister Amirzai Sangin; Counter-narcotics Minister Gen. Khodaidad; Urban Development Minister Gul Agha Sherzai; Transport and Aviation Minister Dr. Muhammadullah Batas; Minister of Rural Rehabilitation and Development Daud Barmak; Mines Minister Waheedullah Shahrani; Information and Culture Minister Syed Makhdoom Raheen; Water and Energy Minister Ismail Khan; Hajj and Auqaf Minister Inayatullah Baleegh Darshad; Higher Education Minister Obaidullah Obaid; Public Welfare Minister Eng Abdur Raza Abdullahai; Martyrs and Disables Minister Taj Ali Sabri; Trade and Industry Minister Ghulam Mohammad; Refugee Affairs Minister Inayatullah Nazari; and Labour & Manpower Minister Ismail Munshi. Karzai has also replaced the Kabul mayor with Amrullah Saleh, chief of the powerful intelligence service called the National Directorate of Security. The mayor, currently on bail pending a court decision on his review petition, was recently convicted on corruption charges. The outgoing cabinet is made up of 25 ministers. ma/mud
