Afghan runnerup says he'll form opposition

KABUL, Afghanistan - The runnerup to Hamid Karzai in historic presidential elections said he is in the process of forming an opposition party.

Yunus Qanooni said he had deep respect for Karzai, but that he felt he could best serve by becoming a leading opposition figure.

"We will support any positive steps taken by the government, but if they do something wrong, we will raise our voices and we will struggle against that," Qanooni said. "What is important is to resolve our differences through politics. We are no longer living in a time of war."

The sentiments echoed those expressed by Karzai himself Friday after he swore in his new Cabinet. The president described Qanooni as "a friend" and said he left him out of the Cabinet so he could start a party ahead of parliamentary elections in April.

"We need political parties, because in the absence of political parties, politics will become ethnic or linguistic," Karzai said.

Qanooni, an ethnic Tajik who was a senior figure in the northern alliance and served as Karzai's interior and education minister, got 16 percent of the vote in October.

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