Powerful Afghan governor opposes Karzai

MAZAR-E-SHARIF, Afghanistan, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- One of Afghanistan's most prosperous provinces could be headed for trouble due to its powerful governor's opposition to President Hamid Karzai, observers say.

Gov. Atta Mohammad Noor of Balkh Province was the only one of Afghanistan's 34 governors to openly back Karzai's challenger Abdullah Abdullah, a former foreign minister, in the country's recent presidential election, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

Campaign banners with portraits of Dr. Abdullah and Gov. Atta hang all over Mazar-e-Sharif, marking the provincial capital as solid opposition territory to Karzai, the Journal says.

"Karzai is a thief of people's votes. Democracy has been buried in Afghanistan," Atta said in an interview.

Many of Karzai's supporters want the Afghan president to fire the northern provincial governor.

"He's been in power for too many years, and if water stand still, it turns into a cesspool," says Sardar Mohammad Saeedi, the deputy head of Karzai's re-election campaign in the north.