Professor Abdul Ghafoor Ravan Farhâdi (born 23 August 1929 in Kabul, Afghanistan) is an Afghan academic and diplomat who served as Afghanistan's Ambassador to the United Nations from 1993 to 2006.
Early life and education
Farhâdi is an ethnic Tajik from Kabul. He graduated from Lycée Esteqlal in Kabul, in 1948. Farhâdi studied at the Institut d'études politiques in Paris, France, achieving an MA degree in 1952. He then earned his Ph.D. at the Sorbonne, in Indo-Iranian Studies, in 1955. His paper was on "le Persan parlé en Afghanistan", later translated to English and Russian. Farhâdi is fluent in French, English and Persian.[1]
In 1964, he returned to Kabul to work at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From 1964 till 1968, he served as Director-General for Political Affairs at the ministry and then he was Deputy Foreign Minister for 5 years. Between 1965 and 1971 he also was Secretary of the Council of Ministers of the Afghan Government.[1]
In 1973, he was appointed Ambassador in Paris. After the coup of Sardar Mohammed Daoud Khan, Farhadi was recalled to Kabul. He served as a member of the Advisory Commission of the Ministry of Culture (1975–1978) organizing international meetings in cultural fields.[1]
Professor Farhâdi has written a number of historical texts, including The Quatrains of Rumi, a translation of over 1,600 of the quatrains attributed to Rumi, and Abdullah Ansari of Herat (Khajeh Abdollah Ansari), a Sufi master.
Since 1993, Farhâdi has served as Vice Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People at United Nations Headquarters in New York. Farhadi is known for his strong commitment to the Palestinian rights[2] but has also acknowledged Israel's right to exist.[3]
Farhadi has been highly critical of Pakistan, saying it is supporting the Taliban.[5] Farhadi was in favour of a government composed of all of Afghanistan's ethnic communities, including Uzbeks, Tajiks, Hazaras, Baluchs and Pashtuns,[3] but rejected the idea of US Secretary of StateColin Powell to include moderate Taliban members in the next government.[6] During the presidential elections of 2009, in which Abdullah Abdullah was the main challenger of Karzai, Farhadi spoke in favour of Abdullah, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs.[7]
After the fall of the Taliban, Farhadi tried to put pressure on the US government to give more aid to Afghanistan, especially to compensate the families who lost civilian family members in US bombings.[8]