He was born to a Pashtun family that has long-standing ties with Mohammed Zahir Shah, the last king of Afghanistan. He graduated from a high school in Saudi Arabia and studied law in Pakistan.[1]
Zahir Qadeer and two other anti-Taliban leaders were freed from a Taliban prison in 1999 by Abdul-Razzaq Hekmati and Hekmatullah Hekmati, two former Mujahids who had served with the Taliban when they became disillusioned.[7]
On 30 August 2017, at least two security guards were killed in a suicide attack targeting his residence in Jalalabad.[9]Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks.[10]
^ abCarlotta Gall, Andy Worthington (5 February 2008). "Time Runs Out for an Afghan Held by the U.S."New York Times. Retrieved 5 February 2008. Two of those officials were men Mr. Hekmati had helped escape from the Taliban's top security prison in Kandahar in 1999: Ismail Khan, now the minister of energy; and Hajji Zaher, a general in the Border Guards. Both men said they appealed to American officials about Mr. Hekmati's case, but to no effect."What he did was very important for all Afghan people who were against the Taliban," Hajji Zaher said of Mr. Hekmati's role in organizing his prison break. "He was not a man to take to Guantánamo." Hajji Zaher, whose father served as vice president under Mr. Karzai for six months, warned that the case of Mr. Hekmati, who is widely known here by his nickname, Baraso, would discourage Afghans from backing the government against the Taliban. "No one is going to help the government," he said.
