MSMBAP Data from BBC News
Profiles some of the most influential figures in the struggle to shape Afghanistan's future.

HAMID KARZAI

Hamid Karzay, who was sworn in as Afghanistan's first elected president in December 2004, is a moderate Pashtun leader from Kandahar.
A charismatic and stylish member of the influential Popolzai tribe, he has built up a considerable international profile, especially in the West and is backed by the United States.
But some at home view his closeness to America with suspicion and distrust.
He initially supported the Taliban but hardened against them after the assassination of his father, a former politician, for which the Taliban was widely blamed.
His main task has been trying to bring stability to the country. This still faces considerable violence from anti-government forces.
Mr. Karzai's other challenges include fighting drug-trafficking, securing international aid, building up Afghanistan's own security forces and reconciling Afghanistan's commitment to international law with conservative interpretations of Islamic Shariat law.
YUNUS QANUNI

A former minister, Mr. Qanuni is now the Speaker of the Wolesi Jirga, the lower house of parliament.
Seen by some as the most serious contender to Mr. Karzay, he stood against him in the presidential elections of 2004.
A key figure in the Northern Alliance in the immediate aftermath of the fall of the Taliban, Mr. Qanuni first held the powerful post of interior minister but later moved to the education ministry.
Differences with President Karzay led to his resignation from the cabinet, following which he formed his own political party, Afghanistan-e-Naween.
Though unable to hold together a political alliance which could provide a formidable challenge to the Karzay government, Mr. Qanuni has been too powerful to be completely marginalized.
SIBGHATULLAH MOJADDEDI

A former mujahideen leader, Mr. Mojadidi is the Speaker of the upper house of parliament, the Meshrano Jirga.
He has played an important and influential part since the fall of the Taliban.
He was made chairman of the constitutional Loya Jirga in 2003, a delicate process which involved reconciling the interests of Afghanistan's different ethnic groups.
Since March 2005, he has headed Afghanistan's National Peace Commission, the body for implementing the process of national reconciliation through the surrender and absorption of former Taliban members.
GENERAL RASHID DOSTUM

The Uzbek general who was one of the most powerful warlords with an independent military base in the north remains a powerful figure in the country.
Mr. Dostum still heads the Junbesh-e Melli Islami (National Islamic Movement), a predominantly Uzbek militia faction.
He was one of the most high-profile candidates to challenge Mr. Karzay in the presidential elections in October 2004.
The veteran of many wars, he has displayed an uncanny ability to switch sides and stay on the right side of those in power.
In the 1980s Gen Dostum backed the invading forces of the Soviet Union against the mujahideen rebels. He then played a prominent role in the civil war that destroyed much of the capital, Kabul, and left thousands dead.
In 2001, while helping the United States, his militias were accused of suffocating hundreds of Taliban prisoners to death by locking them inside shipping containers.
A contender for the post of defiance minister after the removal of Gen Mohammed Fahim, Dostum has however had to be satisfied with the post of chief-of-staff, a largely titular role.
However the appointment was also evidence of his power as Karzay was criticized severely for the appointment which many saw as a reversal of his earlier promise to curb warlords.
BURHANUDDIN RABBANI

A former Afghan president, Mr. Rabbani was elected as an MP from Badakshan in 2005 parliamentary elections.
He remains an influential Tajik figure although he is not a frontline political player.
He heads the conservative Jamiat-e-Islami, which was the largest political party in the Northern Alliance that helped sweep the Taliban from power in 2001.

MARSHALL MOHAMMED QASIM FAHIM

The former defiance minister used to be one of the most powerful men in the country but has been sidelined.
He lost his place in the cabinet and is now a member of the upper house.
Gen Fahim commanded thousands of men loyal to the Tajik-dominated Northern Alliance that helped topple the Taliban in late 2001.
He was widely expected to be named as one of President Karzai's running mates in the 2004 presidential poll, but ended up backing the main challenger, fellow Tajik Yunus Qanuni.
He was head of intelligence of the Northern Alliance and succeeded General Ahmad Shah Masaoud, who was assassinated shortly before the 11 September attacks on the US.
GENERAL ATTA MOHAMMAD

An arch rival of Gen Dostum, Atta Mohammad is the governor of the northern province of Balkh.
Their bitter history goes back to the days of the Soviet occupation, when they fought on opposite sides.
A former teacher, Gen Atta briefly joined forces with Gen Dostum to recapture Mazar-e-Sharif from the Taliban in 2001.
For now, he remains a key regional player in Afghanistan with considerable influence.
His appointment as governor of Balkh was viewed as a move to curb Gen Dostum.
MOHAMMED MOHAQIQ

A member of the minority ethnic Hazara community, Mohammed Mohaqiq was elected as an MP in the 2005 elections.
He comes from Mazar-e-Sharif and teamed up with Gen Dostum and Atta Mohammad to free the city from the Taliban in 2001.
The head and founder of the Wahdat-e-Mardum political party, he had considerable support among the Shia Hazaras, many of whom fought under his command.
Planning minister in the interim Afghan government, Mr. Mohaqiq performed well to finish third behind Mr. Karzay and Mr. Qanuni in the presidential election in 2004.
He did not keep his post in the new Karzay cabinet after the 2005 parliamentary elections.
GUL AGHA SHERZAI

Nangarhar province Governor Gul Agha Sherzai commands considerable loyalty among the Pashtuns in Kandahar, the city he controlled before the Taliban took power in 1994.
Within hours of the Northern Alliance taking control of Kabul in 2001, Sherzai entered and took control of the southern city.
In December 2004, he was appointed as governor of Kandahar with an added, though symbolic, portfolio of minister adviser to Mr. Karzay.
His reappointment became controversial and human rights groups have accused Mr. Sherzai of involvement in the drugs trade.
Mr. Sherzai was made governor of Nangarhar as part of a series of reshuffles viewed as an attempt to curb the power of the warlords.
ISMAIL KHAN
Herat's former governor retained his post as energy minister in the 2006 reshuffle.
Known as the Lion of Herat, Ismaiel Khan is a veteran and legendary Tajik commander who freed Herat from Soviet control, and became a thorn in the side of the Afghan communist government.
Controlling the trade route from Iran, he turned the city of Herat into one of the most developed cities in the country soon after taking control of the area after the fall of the Taliban.
It was his independent power base and apparent refusal to join hands with the Karzay government that led to his eventual removal and reappointment as energy minister in September 2004.
President Karzai's move to replace him was met with violent protests from his supporters.
Ismaiel Khan remains a powerful figure, although with considerably reduced influence.
MASOODA JALAL

The only female candidate in the October 2003 presidential elections, Dr Jalal was the subject of much media attention.
A qualified pediatrician from Kabul, she was treating children when the Taliban came to power in 1996 and stopped women from working.
Ms Jalal made her presence felt when she challenged President Karzay in the first Loya Jirga (grand council) after the Taliban were ousted.
She was appointed minister for women's affairs in December 2004, but was dropped in the reshuffle of April 2006.
Many analysts believe Dr Jalal's appointment has encouraged other women to participate in the process.
SHAHNAWAZ TANAI

A former communist general, Shahnawaz Tanai, 54, now heads the Afghan Peace Movement party.
He was Afghan chief of staff and then defense minister during the Soviet occupation in the 1980s.
Gen Tanai led a coup in 1990, with the renegade mujahideen commander, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, against the then president Najibullah.
The coup failed and Gen Tanai fled to Pakistan where he lived in exile until August 2005, when he returned to form the Afghanistan Peace Movement party.
SAYED MUHAMMAD GULABZOI

A former communist general, Mr. Gulabzoi is now an MP.
Gen Gulabzoi was one of the key members of the Khalq faction of the communist party, the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), and took part in the overthrow of King Muhammad Zahir Shah in 1973.
He was seen as a close aide of the communist leader, Nur Muhammad Taraki, and he served as interior minister for many years during the Soviet occupation.
After 17 years in exile in Russia he returned to run in the parliamentary elections and won a seat.
ABDUL RASSOUL SAYYAF

A former mujahideen leader, Mr. Sayaf is now an elected member of parliament.
Leader of the Islamic Union for the Liberation of Afghanistan, he was the only anti-Taliban Pashtun leader to be part of the Northern Alliance.
A hardliner, he is believed to have formed his party with Saudi backing.
A former professor of Islamic law, Mr. Sayaf was the chairman of the first rebel alliance in 1980.
He was a member of the constitutional Loya Jirga of 2003.
Abdul Rassoul Sayaf was a major player in the civil war in 1992, which left vast areas of the capital, Kabul, in ruins.
WAKIL AHMAD MUTAWAKIL

Mr. Mutawakil, the former foreign minister of the Taliban, failed to win a seat in the 2005 elections.
He had surrendered to the authorities in Kandahar in southern Afghanistan in February 2002.
Before becoming the Taliban foreign minister in 1999, Mr. Mutawakil had served as a spokesman and personal secretary to Taliban leader, Mullah Omar.
Mr. Mutawakil is the most senior Taliban figure to have been arrested by the Americans.
He was held for three years, first by the Americans and then under house arrest in Kabul.
Mr. Mutawakil has always been described as the more respectable face of the Taliban.
It was reported that Mr. Mutawakil led a group of moderate Taliban who wanted Osama Bin Laden to leave Afghanistan to avoid US reprisals against the regime.
After his release, Mr. Mutawakil said he approved of girls' education, so long as it was in keeping with Afghan culture.
He is now involved in moves to bring back moderate Taliban figures into the government fold.
GULBUDDIN HEKMATYAR

Leader of the Hezb-e Islami faction, Mr. Hekmatyar is a warlord who is in hiding - evading American forces - and is believed to be somewhere along the Afghan-Pakistan border.
He is opposed to President Karzay and the presence of US-led foreign forces in Afghanistan and is blamed for carrying out several major attacks in the country.
The US labeled him a terrorist in 2003. Hekmatyar Hezb-e-Islami was the strongest force during the years of Soviet occupation.
This was largely because his party was the main benefactor of the seven official mujahideen groups recognized by Pakistan and US intelligence agencies for the channeling of money and arms.
He later joined forces with General Dostum because he felt his power had been slighted by the mujahideen administration which ran the country from 1992 to 1996.
The fighting between him and Kabul's administration at the time, controlled by the murdered Afghan commander, Ahmad Shah Masaoud, is said to have resulted in the deaths of more than 25,000 civilians.
The faction of his party which broke away to participate in the electoral process garnered the largest number of seats.
ZAHIR SHAH
The frail and ailing former monarch of Afghanistan was deposed by his cousin, Daoud, during a visit to Europe in 1973.
He returned to his former country in 2002 after 30 years in exile.
As a Durrani Pashtun he has much support in the southern belt of Afghanistan and is still very popular.
Many Afghans are said to be dismayed that there has been no role for him in post-Taliban Afghanistan.
The Taliban advocated the return of the king during their early days in 1994, but later reversed this position.
FOREIGN FORCES

More than 9,000 soldiers drawn from more than 35 countries make up the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) which is in charge of security, in Kabul and some provinces.
That number is expected to increase to 16,000 during 2006, with extra troops being deployed to the south to take the pressure off US forces.
Around 19,000 US-led coalition forces are engaged in fighting Taliban and al-Qaeda militants in southern and eastern Afghanistan, but the number is expected to decrease to around 16,000 as Nato forces deploy.
Coalition forces operate out of bases in Bagram, Kandahar, Gardez and a new base in Paktika province close to the Pakistan border.
TALEBAN

Supporters and remnants of Afghanistan hard-line former rulers are still active in many southern and eastern parts of the country.
They have carried out numerous attacks on government forces, coalition forces, peacekeepers and aid workers.
The Taliban first came to power in 1994 under the leadership of a village clergyman, Mullah Omar, who lost an eye while fighting Soviet troops.
Backed by Pakistan, they targeted the feuding warlords who had ousted the Red Army.
They swept to power promising to restore order and bring in a pure and highly conservative interpretation of Shariat Islamic law.
Their authoritarian regime, with strict Islamic punishments and harsh treatment of women, pushed them out of favor both at home and abroad.
But it was their decision to host Osama Bin Laden and his al-Qaeda members that brought them into direct conflict with the Americans and eventually led to their downfall.