Thousands mourned the body of slain Afghan Vice President Abdul Qadir back at his eastern stronghold of Jalalabad yesterday as armed men patrolled the area to prevent trouble at the funeral of the longtime Pashtun leader who was assassinated in Kabul. Checkpoints on major routessintosthe city, provincial capital of Nangarhar, diverted traffic as a helicopter from the international peacekeeping force landed at the airport from KabulswheresQadir was slain on Saturday by two unknown gunmen as he was driven from his office by a son-in-law, who also died. Nosgroupsclaimed responsibility.

　　Qadir's coffin, draped in a green, black and red Afghan national flag and sprinkled with red and white roses, was placed on a gun-carriage and driven past thousands of mourners lining the 5-kilometer route to his home.

　　He was buried later in the day in a family plot. Qadir was governor of Nangarhar province as well as public works minister and vice president.

　　Apart from Afghan President Hamid Karzai himself, Qadir was the most prominent ethnic Pashtun in the government. He was appointed as one of three vice presidents during last month's Afghan grand council, or loya jirga, to bring ethnic balancesintosa government which had been dominated by ethnic Tajiks. Qadir's death threatens to stir unrest in Nangarhar, a relatively wealthy trading and opium poppy-growing province that borders Pakistan. Unrest there could complicate efforts by the Karzai government to extend its authority beyond the capital. "We are very upset over the killing of Haji Qadir," said one of the mourners, Gul Badshas. "It's a conspiracy against the Afghans because when we are closer to peace and stability in Afghanistan, this incident happened."

　　Another mourner, Farhad, called the killing "a real setback for the Afghan nation." He said anxiety among the people of Nangarhar was running high, reported The Associated Press. Security there was extraordinary. Dozens of armed security troops stood guard at the Qadir family home,swheresa large crowd gathered to pay respects before the burial. Scores of others patrolled in the city's commercial district,swheresmost shops had closed on what is normally a business day.

　　On main routes from Kabul to the west and the Pakistan border to the east, armed police manned checkpoints every few hundred meters on the outskirts of the city, diverting traffic to side roads.

　　The attack on Qadir took place about 12:40 p.m. as he was leaving by car from the heavily guarded Ministry of Public Works. The gunmen escaped but all 10 guards on duty at the ministry were arrested because they failed to react properly, according to Kabul police chief Din Mohammed Jurat.

　　On Saturday, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said that China was shocked and gave its condolences following the assassination of Qadir.

　　"China opposes and condemns terrorism in any form, and hopes and believes that the Afghan peace process will not be affected by the incident," the spokesman said.