A former ophthalmologist and resistance fighter, Abdullah Abdullah stands one step away from becoming the president of Afghanistan – the final part of a plan hatched five years ago, when he believes the job was stolen from him.
Mr Abdullah, 53, has plotted to avenge defeat since the 2009 election when he came second to Hamid Karzai in the first-round vote and then pulled out of the run-off, alleging that the result would be fixed.
As a pro-Western, religiously moderate politician, he has spent time building ties with tribal leaders who hold the key to power. He has stayed close to the US and other donor nations.
Mr Abdullah was a member of Burhanuddin Rabbani’s government during Afghanistan’s 1992-1996 civil war.
His formative political experience was as the right-hand man to Ahmad Shah Massoud, the charismatic Tajik commander who led resistance to the Soviet occupation in the 1980s and to the 1996-2001 Taliban regime.
* Agence France-Presse
