Dr Abdullah: Against all odds

Dr Abdullah became the face of Western allies in Afghanistan

In a series of exclusive interviews in Afghanistan, the man known simply as Dr Abdullah recounts the inside story of his 20-year struggle against some of the great challenges of modern Afghanistan.

Dr Abdullah was an unlikely hero. The son of a respected justice department official he was raised in the middle classes of Kabul and Kandahar and became one of the most talented surgeons in Afghanistan.

But he gave up his promising career in medicine to join the resistance fighting the Soviet army and eventually became the right-hand man of the leader of the Northern Alliance, Commander Ahmad Shah Massoud.

Dr Abdullah reveals the details of his dealings with the CIA

When the Taliban came to power in 1996 Massoud and Abdullah tried to warn the West but Afghanistan had fallen off their radar and their warnings went unheeded.

When Massoud was assassinated by al-Qaeda agents posing as journalists and, 48 hours later, the events of 9/11 took place, Abdullah started to court the international media that was quickly gathering in Afghanistan.

In days he launched a global media campaign from New York to Sydney, from London to Tokyo and he rapidly became the face of Western allies in Afghanistan.

In Dr Abdullah: Against all odds he tells the story of these events and reveals for the first time his intimate dealings with the US Central Intelligence Agency.

This programme will aired 28 May 2007.

Watch Part One here:

Watch Part Two here:

---

To contact us click on ‘Send your views’ at the top of the page

Watch Al Jazeera English programmes on YouTube