JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And now we go back to Afghanistan, and the new Deputy Defense Minister, General Abdul Rashid Dostum. As we mentioned earlier, General Dostum was chosen by the interim government after he helped to lead the Northern Alliance to victory over the Taliban. But he has a long history in the country, as CNN's Harris Whitbeck tells us from Kabul.</s>HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN NEWS, KABUL, AFGHANISTAN: The chairman of Afghanistan's new interim government, Hamid Karzai, took steps towards consolidating the unity of his new government. He named one of Afghanistan's most powerful warlords as deputy minister of defense. General Abdul Rashid Dostum had controlled a large part of northern Afghanistan during the fight against the Taliban, and his taking of the strategic city of Mazar-e Sharif helped pave the way for the eventual defeat of the Taliban in Afghanistan. With two of the most powerful warlords in the country now in the top positions at the Ministry of Defense, Afghanistan is well on its way towards the formation of a professional unified army. Chairman Karzai had said during his swearing in ceremony that he wanted a unified army for his country, and he had asked that United Nations help him to that effect. Now, General Dostum, the new deputy prime minister, has sparked some controversy in the past. During the Bonn agreements that led to the creation of the new government, he had expressed his concern over the fact that he had not been given a major role to play in this new government, and the fact that he is such a powerful warlord had sparked some concern that the unity of the government and peace in Afghanistan might be relatively short-lived. Harris Whitbeck, CNN, Kabul, Afghanistan.
Dostum Appointed Deputy Defense Minister