Afghanistan's most powerful regional leader has warned that plans to disarm tens of thousands of factional fighters over the coming months could undermine national stability.
On the eve of a visit to his province by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who has made rapid disarmament a central policy, Mr Ismail Khan said in a rare interview that the fledgling national army was too weak to fill the power vacuum that would be created.
Mr Khan, the self-styled "emir of Herat," rules the strategic western province as a personal fiefdom, maintaining a level of stability unusual among Afghan provinces.
"The disarming of the mujahideen [holy warriors], who are helping to secure Afghanistan, will bring instability," Mr Khan said.
He is revered as a leading warrior in the "jihad," or holy war against the Soviet occupation in the 1980s, and associates himself closely with mujahideen fighters who still hold sway in some regions outside Kabul.
His comments underline differences between Mr Karzai, who wants to consolidate the centre's grip over provinces, and powerful regional commanders, often referred to as warlords, who pay little regard to Kabul's directives.