Legacy of Afghan 'lion' lives on

By Pam O'Toole
BBC regional analyst

Ahmed Shah Masood is still revered by some in Afghanistan

Thousands of Afghans have gathered in Kabul to commemorate Ahmed Shah Masood, the celebrated resistance fighter who led opposition to the Taleban.

Commander Masood - known as the Lion of the Panjshir - was killed three years ago in a suicide bomb attack by two men posing as journalists.

That attack - just before the 11 September bombings in the United States - was subsequently blamed on al-Qaeda and its Taleban allies.

Masood remains a powerful symbol.

He was famed as a military strategist during the war against the Soviet Union and gained his nom de guerre from his dogged resistance in the Panjshir valley.

Neither the Russians nor the Taleban could defeat him.

Three years on, he remains a powerful symbol, his portrait adorning thousands of offices and buildings across the country.

Afghanistan's interim President, Hamid Karzai, described him as one of the most glittering and luminous figures of the resistance.

Several candidates in Afghanistan's forthcoming presidential election have sought to capitalise on the personality cult which has grown up around him.

Election posters for one particular candidate - Mohammed Yunus Qanuni - a long-term political ally of Masood, often appear next to pictures of the Lion of the Panjshir himself.

'The three Panjshiris'

Mr Qanooni is said to have the support of two other powerful Panjshiris also closely allied with the late Commander Masood, Defence Minister Mohammed Qasim Fahim, and Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah.

The three Panjshiris, as they are known, have wielded considerable influence in Afghanistan's government.

All three are ethnic Tajiks.

Meanwhile, President Karzai, a Pashtun, has named one of Commander Masood's brothers as his running mate in an apparent bid to attract voters loyal to Masood and his powerful and predominantly Tajik Jamiat-e Islami movement.

But the people of the Panjshir valley say none are as popular as the late Ahmed Shah Masood.