The Taliban Attempts to Assassinate Afghan President Hamid Karzai in a Military Parade in Kabul

Hamid Karzai (Pashto: حامد کرزی - Ḥāmid Karzay; born 24 December 1957) is the 12th and current President of Afghanistan, taking office on December 7, 2004.

He became a dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban government in late 2001. During the International Conference on Afghanistan in Bonn, Germany, on December 5, 2001, Karzai was selected by prominent Afghan political figures to serve a six month term as Chairman of the Transitional Administration. He was then chosen for a two years term as the Interim President during the 2002 Loya Jirga in Kabul, Afghanistan. After the 2004 presidential election, Karzai won and became President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. He then won the 2009 presidential election after his opponent withdrew from the run-off race.

On November 26, 2009, Afghan President Hamid Karzai made a public plea to the United States to engage in direct negotiations with the Taliban leadership. In an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour, Karzai said there is an "urgent need" for negotiations with the Taliban, and made it clear that the Obama administration had opposed such talks. There was no formal American response.