Mohammad Fahim Dashty is a journalist, politician and political analyst from Afghanistan. An ethnic Tajik, born in Panjshir province in 1973, Dashty studied political sciences in Kabul University. Fighting in his homeland forced him to exile in Iran in 1989. Because of his close relations and respect to Northern Alliance leader Ahmad Shah Massoud, Dashty constantly had to move about Central Asia and seek hide-outs in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, France, Pakistan and Iran. When Ahmad Shah Massoud was assassinated in northern Afghanistan two days before the September 11 Attacks, Dashty was working on a biography of the late commander, and was injured as well. More than 90% of his body was burned as a result of the explosion that killed Massoud. After a lengthy treatment in Paris, Mr. Dashty came back to Afghanistan and founded the Kabul Weekly, a tri-lingual newspaper published from Kabul.