Born: 1953

Province: Kabul

Ethnicity: Pashtun

He withdrew his candidacy and joined Mohammad Ashraf Ghani’s team.

He attended Istiqlal High School before travelling to France to study on a scholarship at the Paris Medical School. He received his medical degree in 1973.

Rassoul has been serving as minister of foreign affairs of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan since he received a confidence vote from the Wolesi Jirga (Afghan National Assembly) in January 2010.

Prior to his appointment as minister, he served as national security advisor, a post he held from June 2002 to January 2009. He played a constructive role in aligning security institutions with the country's foreign policy.

Among his numerous responsibilities, Rassoul conducted national threat assessments and made national security policy. Rassoul accompanied President Hamid Karzai on official travel since the establishment of the interim administration in 2001.

An ethnic Pashtun, he remains unmarried and is fluent in Dari, Pashto, French, English and Italian and has a working knowledge of Arabic. He has written multiple articles and papers on medical issues for European and American magazines.

Karzai nominated Rassoul for minister of civil aviation and he was unanimously approved by the cabinet in March 2002. Under his leadership, the aviation sector was revived from its Taliban-era depletion due to UN sanctions.

Rassoul played an important role in Afghanistan's readmission to the International Civil Aviation Organization.

Abdul Jabbar Taqwa and Ghulam Ali Wahdat are his running mates for first and second vice president.