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The governor of Kandahar, whose firing may have been delayed by a diplomatic slip of the tongue from Canada's previous foreign affairs minister, has been replaced by a former commander in the Afghan National Army.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced late yesterday that Major-General Rahmatullah Raufi would be taking the influential position from Asadullah Khalid, who had been linked to torture and corruption.

 Gen. Raufi was at one time the military regional commander for Kandahar province where the Canadian Forces are stationed but was replaced two years ago. He has not held a position in the government or military since then, sources said.

Gen. Raufi will take over the job of governor today. He is coming to the post at a time when the Taliban's grip on the region is increasing, a situation that is due in large part to corruption within the government and the police.

"My first thing will be bringing security to Kandahar and supporting the police and Afghan National Army in the region," Gen. Raufi said in an interview with The Globe and Mail.

"I don't know completely about what is going on in Kandahar now, because for a year and a half, I was far from Kandahar, so I can't say what I will do differently from another governor," he said when asked how his style would diverge from that of Mr. Khalid.

But he stressed that his primary preoccupation will be ending the ongoing conflict that has claimed countless lives and has left this region one of the most dangerous places in the world to live.

"I have spent much time with the Kandahar people and I hope to finish this trouble," Gen. Raufi said.

 It has been known for some time that Mr. Karzai was planning to replace Mr. Khalid as governor. There were calls for his removal this year after The Globe reported on Ottawa's attempts to conceal allegations that Mr. Khalid was personally involved in the torture of detainees.

 Maxime Bernier, who has since quit as foreign affairs minister, met privately with President Karzai in April and asked him to replace the governor.

The Afghan President told the Canadian delegation that a new governor would be appointed for Kandahar "within weeks," said a senior official who attended the meeting.

 But, on the way out of the country, Mr. Bernier was asked what Mr. Karzai could do about corruption in this province.

"What he can do? As you know, there is the question of the governor here," Mr. Bernier said. "There is the question to maybe have a new governor."

That statement shattered months of diplomacy and made the job of removing Mr. Khalid much more difficult. Two Afghan sources subsequently told The Globe that Mr. Khalid had anticipated moving to another job shortly after Mr. Bernier's departure, but that the undiplomatic statement embarrassed Mr. Karzai, who decided to keep Mr. Khalid in his position for a longer period.

The Canadian government offered little immediate reaction to Mr. Khalid's departure except to say it was not involved in the dismissal or his replacement.

"We were not consulted on the appointment," said Kory Teneycke, director of communication in the Prime Minister's Office.

Omar Samad, Afghanistan's ambassador to Canada, played down the switch in an attempt to beat back the impression that Mr. Khalid was dismissed.

"It's part of routine governmental shuffles," he said. "We see that happening all the time in Afghanistan. The President felt at this time that we needed new leadership in Kandahar."

Asked if Mr. Khalid failed in his job, Mr. Samad said it's premature to judge his record. "It's too soon to evaluate [his] tenure," but he acknowledged reviews are mixed on how well the ex-governor performed.

Mr. Samad said the Afghanistan government nevertheless wants the new governor, Gen. Raufi, to achieve more than his predecessor did.

"We all expect the next governor to do better and improve the situation in terms of security," Mr. Samad said.

Mr. Khalid was unavailable for comment last night, but friends said he still had hope that Mr. Karzai may make him a minister in the federal government, they said.

Gen. Raufi said yesterday that he was selected for his new job because Kandahar is one of the largest and most important provinces in Afghanistan "and the President wants to send the person who knows the rules of the military and of the administration."

 As governor, he is expected to take over the difficult task of provincial security, but another person is expected to be brought in to deal with the critical issue of development in a region where education, health, jobs and even food and water are lacking.

Haji Ahsan, a member of the provincial council, said he met Gen. Raufi in 2006 when he was the provincial army commander.

"He had good discipline and is an honest and sympathetic man and he spent more time in Kandahar, which means he knows the habits of Kandahar people," Mr. Ahsan said.

"But the problem in Kandahar is this: In Kandahar there are many tribes and some tribal elders give the wrong advice and make demands from the governor. So it is up to the governor to obey the wrong or good advice."

With a report from Steven Chase in Ottawa