Former Afghan mujahideen commander Sibghatullah Mojaddedi, who fought the Soviets and rose to become the country’s interim President after the collapse of the Afghan communist regime in 1992, has died at the age of 93, his family said on Tuesday. He passed away late on Monday in a Kabul hospital after a long illness.
His death comes three days before the 30th anniversary of the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Mr. Mojaddedi served just two months as interim President under a power-sharing deal struck by mujahideen leaders. These factions later turned on each other. But he continued to play a prominent role in Afghan politics, particularly after the fall of the Taliban in 2001.
In 2003, he served as chairman of the Loya Jirga — or Grand Assembly — that approved the Constitution for a post-Taliban era.
