Haneef Atmar

Mohammad Haneef Atmar (Dari: محمد حنیف اتمر; born 10 September 1968) is an Afghan politician and diplomat. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan, and earlier held cabinet positions as Minister of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (2002–2006), Minister of Education (2006–2008), and Minister of Interior (2008–2010). He was also the National Security Advisor to President Ashraf Ghani from 2014 to 2018. Atmar first worked with international humanitarian organisations before entering government. He was appointed by President Hamid Karzai as Minister of Rural Rehabilitation and Development in 2002, serving in that role until 2006. He then became Minister of Education, a position he held from 2006 to 2008. In 2008, he was appointed Minister of Interior, where he served until June 2010. In 2011, he founded the Truth and Justice Party, which he went on to lead. Throughout his ministerial career, he engaged with international partners to secure support for Afghanistan's stability and reconstruction. In 2014, Atmar was appointed National Security Advisor to President Ashraf Ghani, a position he held until his resignation in 2018. Later that year, he announced his candidacy for the 2019 presidential elections, expressing support for a negotiated peace settlement with the Taliban, though he subsequently withdrew from the race. On 4 April 2020, he was appointed Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and was formally approved by the Wolesi Jirga on 21 November 2020. He was sworn into office on 4 February 2021 and remained in the post until August 2021.