LONDON, 15 December 2002 — About once every two weeks, the American President George Bush delivers his neck into the hands of an Afghan woman who comes to the White House. She is his barber; he stretches out and surrenders to her skills. She cuts his hair and shaves him with a blade that is in very close contact with the neck of the man who controls the world’s only superpower.
She is Zahira Zahir who owns a hairdressing salon in Washington’s famous Watergate Hotel. When Asharq Al-Awsat sought to interview her, she at first refused for two days despite repeated phone calls from London. In the end, she finally agreed and told us a story which will not satisfy the curiosity of our readers but one that is nevertheless very interesting.
Zahira is a hairdresser who has lost a number of customers since 9/11. The reason is that she is an Afghan Muslim and often holds in her hands a very sharp and powerful instrument. Though some have deserted her, she has not lost her most important customer. George Bush continues to trust her as did Bill Clinton, George Bush Senior and Ronald Reagan.
Information about Zahira Abdul Zahir is not easy to come by since she dislikes publicity. This is why she initially refused to talk to Asharq Al-Awsat; one of her employees we spoke to assured her that the interview would not last more than ten minutes. The newspaper was told that Zahira is generally very busy but that she might call one day if she had something to say. She did eventually call — at a time when the salon was apparently very busy since the reporter could clearly hear chatter from both sexes. Zahira said that she was President Bush’s official barber and that she was the daughter of the Afghan prime minister, Abdul Zahir Zahir, who held office in the early seventies for 18 months during the reign of the former king, Mohammad Zahir Shah. She was at one time the wife of the deputy head of the Afghan diplomatic mission to the United Nations in New York.
Two hours before the interview with Zahira, the salon employee said that she went every two or three weeks to a room in the White House which many leaders and important people, both foreign and local, dream of visiting. Moreover when she arrives, she goes into seclusion with the president in the first family’s private quarters. For more than half an hour, she is alone with him, cutting the hair of the man that the USA spends millions of dollars every year to protect.
As for Zahira who is laughing as we talk on the phone, she says, “You don’t seem to know this country; it is wonderful and its citizens are exemplary. Here they separate different matters from one other. President Bush is my most important customer and he seems to be satisfied with the way I cut his hair.”
She went on to say that she has American nationality; during her life she has had some hard times. She was born in Kabul where she grew up, finished her elementary education and married. Then in the mid-1970’s, she accompanied her husband to the United Nations in New York. A little less than four years later, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan; of course her husband lost his job at the UN and the family found themselves penniless. They had three children and their situation was desperate as they had little money and her husband had no job. Finally they left New York and went to Washington in hopes that perhaps her husband might find work there at an embassy. This hope did not materialize and their problems intensified with the result that they divorced. She said she did not want to mention the names of her former husband or her children. She emphasized, “You must realize that I was forced to do some very demanding jobs in order to take care of my children.”
Q: Were you originally a hairdresser?
A: I am the daughter of a former prime minister and was the wife of the deputy head of a diplomatic mission. I never dreamed of becoming a hairdresser. I learned it during Reagan’s presidency and got a job as assistant hairdresser in the salon where the president’s hair was cut.
Q: How did you become the official hairdresser then?
A: The president’s normal hairdresser got sick and during his absence, President Reagan wanted his hair cut. I was there and he said to me, “You will be my hairdresser from now on” and since then, I have cut every president’s hair. Reagan was the first president to bring a female hairdresser into the White House. He was followed by Bush Senior and then Clinton. As you see, I am only a hairdresser.
Q: How much does the president pay for his hair cut?
A: He pays $30 which is the normal fee.
Q: Do all customers pay the same fee?
A: All of them. And if you were to come, you would pay the same.
Q: Does he talk about Afghanistan or any Islamic issues? Does he consult you about anything?
A: I arrive at the White House, greet him and he sits down. I cut his hair — the procedure is quiet and peaceful. I am not a consultant but a hairdresser and he is the one who decides on the topic of conversation.
Q: Did you think you would be fired after the Sept. 11 attacks — if only to satisfy American public opinion?
A: The truth is that he surprised me when he didn’t fire me. I was worried because I am an Afghan — but as you see, this country is great and its people don’t mix issues. My staying in the job is a clear signal that America is the land of tolerance.
Zahira just laughs when she is asked when she was born and how old she is. Nor will she reveal her children’s ages because that would indicate her own. She laughs and so do her customers who have apparently been listening to what she is saying. Zahira ends the conversation: “Got to run now. Lots of customers here and no time to talk.”
