Afghanistan's parliament on Saturday rejected more than half of President Hamid Karzai's nominations for his cabinet, including at least two close allies and the powerful former guerrilla commander Ismail Khan.

Women's affairs minister Husn Bano Ghazanfar was the thirteenth of 24 candidates who failed to win approval, when she fell two votes short of the total needed for confirmation.

The justice, commerce, energy, economy, public health and communications portfolios were among posts left empty after parliamentarians made use of a rare opportunity to flex their political muscle. - Reuters