Abdul Zahir (Afghan Prime Minister)

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Abdul Zahir 
MD
Abdul Zahir (Afghan Prime Minister)

In office
09 June 1971 – 12 December 1972
Monarch Mohammad Zahir Shah
Preceded by Mohammad Nur Ahmad Etemadi
Succeeded by Mohammad Musa Shafiq

Born 1910
Laghman, Afghanistan
Died 1983
Political party Independent

Dr. Abdul Zahir (1910 - 1983) was a Prime Minister of Afghanistan during the reign of King Zahir Shah.

Zahir was born in Laghman, Afghanistan. He attended secondary school in Kabul and university in the United States of America earning an MD from Columbia University and Master's degree in Public health from Johns Hopkins University. He became a medical doctor and returned to Afghanistan to practice medicine, but eventually entered politics. His political positions included terms as Minister of Health, President of the Parliament and Ambassador to Italy and Pakistan. Most prominently, he served as Prime Minister of Afghanistan from June 1971 to December 1972. A few months after he resigned from that post, Zahir Shah was overthrown and Abdul Zahir had to retire from politics.

Zahir was married to Quraisha and had four children. His son Ahmad Zahir was a popular musician. His eldest son, Asif Zahir (1932-2000) was also politically active during his lifetime as Minister of Rural Rehabilitation and Development in 1980s and he remained ambassador in Kuwait (1989-1992)and Italy (1992-1993). He resigned from his post and lived in Peshawar, Pakistan, where he started a campaign for peace in Afghanistan by setting up a political group called the Afghan National Movement (ANM).

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Political offices
Preceded by
Mohammad Nur Ahmad Etemadi
Prime Minister of Afghanistan
1971 – 1972
Succeeded by
Mohammad Musa Shafiq