Burhanuddin Rabbani, an ethnic
Tajik, is the political leader of the
Northern Alliance of
Afghanistan.
In
1992 he became President of the Islamic Council of
Afghanistan (effectively ruler of the country), until
Kabul was captured by the
Taliban in
1996. He set up headquarters in the northern Afghan town of
Faizabad[?] and led, with support from
Iran and
Russia, one of the five anti-Taliban factions.
He was still recognised as ruler of Afghanistan by the United Nations and some other countries until he formally handed over power
to an interim government headed by Hamid Karzai on December 22, 2001.
