Engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

Abdul Rahim was appointed the Afghan Communications Minister of the

Afghan Interim Administration The Afghan Interim Administration (AIA), also known as the Afghan Interim Authority, was the first administration of Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban regime and was the highest authority of the country from 22 December 2001 until 13 Jul ...

—the first post-

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...

government in 2002. Abdul Rahim was from the

Tajik Tajik, Tadjik, Tadzhik or Tajikistani may refer to: * Someone or something related to Tajikistan * Tajiks, an ethnic group in Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan * Tajik language, the official language of Tajikistan * Tajik (surname) * Tajik cu ...

ethnic group. He was replaced by Masoom Stanakzai from the

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...

ethnic group when President Hamid Karzai appointed the Cabinet of the

Afghan Transitional Administration Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia *Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity **Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pash ...

Early life

Eng. Abdul Rahim Sayedjan was born in Darwaz district of northeastern Badakshan Province. He is of

descent, born to a farming family in Badakhshan. His early years were spent in

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

where he was sent to finish his schooling and pursue higher education. He was among the first members of his village to have attained a university education. He completed his education at a local technical institute and received his bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the Polytechnic University in Kabul. Soon after, he worked as an engineer at the Ministry of Water and Energy. Rahim is married, and has three sons and two daughters. His eldest son, Shoaib Rahim, is currently the acting Mayor of Kabul.

Political career

Rahim served as a representative of Jamiat-i-Islami in Pakistan, primarily involved in efforts of providing humanitarian, educational, and political relief for Afghan refugees as a result of the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan. He extensively participated delegations across Europe to garner international support for the Afghan resistance to the Soviet Invasion. From 1993 to 1995, he was the

Chargé d'Affaires A ''chargé d'affaires'' (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador ...

of Afghanistan in

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and

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, coordinating American assistance to Afghanistan. Upon the completion of this service, Rahim was assigned as Chargé d'Affaires of Afghanistan in Islamabad, Pakistan until 1996. During the Taliban rule of Kabul, Rahim was appointed as the Chargé d'Affaires in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, China for over a year and then moved to become Chargé d'Affaires in Dushanbe, Tajikistan to be closer to the affairs of Afghanistan until 1997. Due to strong involvement with and to better assist over a million refugees in Iran, Rahim was appointed as the Afghanistan's Consul General in Mashhad, Iran from 1997 until 2001. During his mission the prime focus was towards assisting the immigrant with basic necessity and secondary educational opportunity of the refuges.

Modern Afghanistan

Transitional government

Under the Afghan Interim Administration, the first post-Taliban government in 2016, Rahim was part of the three-member Jamiat-i-Islami's delegation to the Second Bonn Meeting and appointed as the Afghanistan Minister of Communication and Post. During his leadership in the Ministry, Rahim focused on uniform phone charges, and ensuring compliance to regulation by private telephone companies. Most notably, he led the ministry to support the launch of Afghan Wireless Communications, a joint venture between the government and Afghan-American businessman

Ehsan Bayat Ehsanollah "Ehsan" Bayat ( Persian: احسان الله بیات, born July 15, 1963) is an Afghan American business entrepreneur who is the founder and chairman of Bayat Group, Afghanistan's largest private company. Early life and education Bay ...

. This was lauded as a critical step in redevelopment of Afghanistan's infrastructure, connecting Afghanistan to the world as well as providing jobs within the country.

Interim Minister of Refugees and Repatriation

Rahim was nominated for the post of Minister of Refugees and Repatriations by President Hamid Karzai after the 2015 elections. However, he did not receive enough votes in the parliamentary approval proceedings to secure the position. He worked as the acting minister, bringing attention to the plight of both internally displaced persons and treatment of Afghan refugees in neighboring countries and the west.

Diplomatic missions

After the dissolution of the interim government, Rahim served as the Ambassador of Afghanistan to Indonesia from 2018 to 2019. He served as Ambassador and Representative of Afghanistan to the

Organisation of Islamic Cooperation An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived from ...

(OIC) in

Jeddah Jeddah ( ), also spelled Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; ar, , Jidda, ), is a city in the Hejaz region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the country's commercial center. Established in the 6th century BC as a fishing village, Jeddah's pro ...

, Saudi Arabia from 2017 to 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rahim, Abdul Afghan engineers Communication ministers of Afghanistan Living people Afghan expatriates in Pakistan Afghan Tajik people Year of birth missing (living people)