But the spokesman, Mr. Ahsan, denied any role in Tuesday's attack on the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam candidate.

WSJ: Bombs Kill 17 in Pakistan

Karimi has set out to dilute the influence of the Jamiat officers and defuse ethnic tensions.

NEWYORKER: After America

The Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazal (JUI-F) is a right-wing party with ideological links to the Deobandi orientation of Islam.

BBC: Q&A: Pakistan's parliamentary elections

K. from his post, Karzai has taken other steps to counter the influence of the Jamiat cabal.

NEWYORKER: After America

Their commander, Amanullah Terling, another former Jamiat commander, said that his men were protecting roads and development projects.

NEWYORKER: After America

Khan, an ethnic Tajik, is a former deputy to Ahmad Shah Massoud, the leader of Jamiat-e-Islami, who was killed in 2001.

NEWYORKER: After America

The Northern Alliance, and in particular the Tajik-dominated Jamiat-i-Islami faction, which controls Kabul, has little apparent reason to go along with a process that is likely to dilute its power.

ECONOMIST: Special report

According to Afghan and American officials, Karzai decided to remove Bismillah Khan as Army chief over fears that he was packing the middle ranks of the Afghan officer corps with fellow Jamiat officers who might be more loyal to him than to the Afghan state.

NEWYORKER: After America