1978 in Afghanistan government. Amin becomes Foreign Minister. The country is renamed the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. Although Taraki professes a non-aligned policy, there are signs that he is leaning heavily on the Soviet Union for economic aid and advice. Taraki attempts to purge the ruling PDPA of prominent leaders of the Parcham wing of the party. Some are sent abroad as ambassadors, including Deputy Prime Minister Babrak Karmal, who is appointed ambassador to Czechoslovakia. Taraki's reform program - which threatened to undermine basic Afghan cultural patterns - and political repression having antagonized large segments of the population, the first major uprising occurs
Assadullah Sarwari Asadullah Amin in October 1979. In September 1979 Sarwari was involved in a pro-Nur Muhammad Taraki plot to oust Prime Minister Hafizullah Amin. After the failure of the plot, he and his comrades (the 'Gang of Four') escaped to the Soviet Embassy, where he was given asylum until the Soviet invasion and the fall of Amin in December 1979. After the invasion, under the government of Babrak Karmal, Sarwari was first given the task of deputy prime minister, but he was soon removed from the government and posted as ambassador to Mongolia from 1980 to 1986. In January 1980, Sarwari