KABUL: Ashraf Ghani is an intellectual high-achiever with a famous temper who proudly describes himself as a "free spirit". Now he must prove himself to be a unifying leader who can tackle Afghanistan's vast problems.
Ghani, 65, enjoyed a stellar career as an academic and economist after leaving Afghanistan in 1977, only returning 24 years later to pursue his dream of rebuilding the country.
He studied at New York's Columbia University, before teaching in the United States during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s.
He worked with the World Bank from 1991, becoming an expert on the Russian coal industry, and finally moved back to Kabul as a senior UN special adviser soon after the Taliban were routed in late 2001.
In the days that followed, he was a key architect of the interim government and became a powerful finance minister under President Hamid Karzai from 2002 to 2004, campaigning hard against burgeoning corruption.
Renowned for his intensity and energy, Ghani introduced a new currency, set up a tax system, encouraged wealthy expat Afghans to return home, and cajoled donors as the country emerged from the austere Taliban era.
But he also earned the divisive reputation that still dogs him today.
"He never allowed anyone to get too close, remaining aloof," wrote veteran author Ahmed Rashid, who has known him for 25 years.
"Unfortunately his explosions of bad temper and displays of arrogance with fellow Afghans and Westerners were all too frequent and soon made him a loathed figure."
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