Afghan President on surprise visit to Kabul mosque

Kabul, Dec 31: Afghan President Hamid Karzai shunned securityconcerns today to make a surprise visit, to a crowded Kabul mosquewhere he hugged worshippers and gave money to children to mark theMuslim festival of Eid al-Adha.

It was a rare appearance in public by the Western-backed presidentwho has survived two assassination bids since he came to office afterthe 2001 overthrow of the Taliban government.

Kabul, like other parts of the country, has been hit by a seriesof Taliban suicide attacks targetting government and foreign forcesthis year, the bloodiest since 2001.

Called by critics the 'mayor of Kabul' because neither his writnor his trips extend much outside the capital, Karzai seldom venturesoutside the ancient walls of his presidential palace compound and eventhen only with tight security.

But security was relaxed as Karzai arrived with a only a handfulof his US-trained Afghan bodyguards at Pul-i-Khesti, the main mosquecrowded with hundreds of worshippers in a traffic clogged and war-tornpart of the city.

''People were really surprised with his sudden and unannouncedvisit. We did not get checked when entering the mosque. He prayed, thenhugged some people and handed out money to a number of kids,'' saidwitness Ahmad Sear.

It is an Afghan tradition to give money to children during the Eid al-Adha, or Feast of Sacrifice, Muslim festival.

Usually when Karzai attends a function even at a governmentcompound outside his palace, whole districts are closed to traffic byscores of bodyguards and snipers sit atop buildings.

Karzai has escaped two attempts on his life since US-led andAfghan forces ousted the Taliban in late 2001 after the hardlineIslamic government refused to hand over al Qaeda leader Osama bin Ladenfollowing the September 11 attacks.

The first one was by a Taliban fighter in 2002 while visiting thesouthern city of Kandahar, Karzai's birthplace and also the mainbastion of resurgent Taliban.

The second attempt came in the form of a rocket attack during ahelicopter trip in the 2004 presidential election race, which he wonoverwhelmingly.

Reuters