Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai met with French Defense Minister Gerad Longuet to offer his condolences for the shooting of four French soldiers by an Afghan soldier recently and to discuss their country's relations and their future role in Afghanistan, according to the Associated Press. Karzai has been discussing peace with the insurgent group Hizb-i-Islami. He is becoming an even more powerful political player. Here is some more information about him.
* Karzai comes from a family with a lot of political background, as his grandfather was the deputy speaker for the Afghanistan Senate and his father was the deputy speaker of the Afghan Parliament, according to Biography.com.
* He was born into the Populzai clan, which is part of the Pashtun Tribe.
* Karzai went to high school in Kabul and attended Himachal Pradesh University in India.
* Karzai studied journalism at the Ecole Superieure in France and is fluent in seven languages, according to Notable Biographies.
* During the Afghan-Soviet War, Karzai served as a diplomat and an adviser to the Mujahideen, which was fighting against the Soviets. He also was a contractor for the CIA as the U.S. was funding the Afghan resistance.
* He was also the director of the Afghan National Liberation Front.
* After the Afghans ousted the Soviets, Karzai became deputy foreign minister from 1992 to 1994, according to the Academy of Achievement.
* When the country became engulfed in civil war, the Taliban wanted Karzai to be a part of its rule, but instead he went to Pakistan where he started an anti-Taliban force.
* Karzai's father, Abdul Mohamed, was assassinated allegedly by the Taliban because of Karzai's resistance to join their government. When Mohamed was killed, Karzai became the head of the Populzai clan.
* His anti-Taliban resistance movement took him to the U.S. Senate where he pleaded for help in ousting the Taliban from power, but his plea was not taken seriously until the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
* Karzai helped the U.S. with gaining information after he made his way back into Afghanistan. He was almost killed when the Taliban raided his hideout but was saved by U.S. forces, according to the BBC.
* In December 2001, Karzai was sworn in as interim president of Afghanistan after there was a unanimous vote by Afghan politicians and Afghan tribal leaders that he should be their leader until Afghan elders could come together to decide who should lead the country on a more permanent basis.
* In June 2002, Karzai was elected to be the president of the Afghan Transitional Government.
* On Oct. 9, 2004, 8 million Afghanis voted in the country's first democratic election, with Karzai beating out many opponents to become president, according to the New York Times.
* The presidential election in 2009 was contested because of alleged voter fraud. Karzai was supposed to compete in a second election run-off against Minister Abdullah Abdullah, but Abdullah backed out at the last minute citing fraud.
* Karzai has increased government revenue every year since he has been president, as well as negotiated peace with many tribal leaders.
* He has strained relations with the U.S. after asking for night raids to stop, which are the United States' most effective tactic in fighting terrorists, according to AFP.
Lauren Finnegan graduated from Hawaii Pacific University with a bachelor's degree in political science and has an insider's perspective on the military because of her role as a military wife who has lived around the country.
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