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KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - The man who has held Afghanistan's foreign minister post since the fall of the Taliban regime four years ago will be replaced in a Cabinet reshuffle, officials said Wednesday.
The changes are subject to parliament approval and will be presented to the body this week, said Khaleeq Ahmed, spokesman for President Hamid Karzai. The Cabinet is to be trimmed from 27 members to 26. Fourteen ministers have kept their jobs, four changed portfolios while eight are new faces, according to a list from Karzai's office.
Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah, who has had close ties with Washington, will be replaced by Rangeen Dadfar Spanta, a presidential adviser on foreign affairs. The move had been long anticipated because of an apparent falling out between Abdullah and Karzai over how the ministry was directing foreign affairs, observers say.
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