KABUL -- Thousands of Afghans on Monday marked the anniversary of the assassination of a legendary mujahideen commander killed by suspected Al Qaeda agents just two days before the September 11 attacks on the United States.

Black flags flew on shops and houses to commemorate Ahmad Shah Masood's murder, and thousands of people crammed into Kabul's main sports stadium to hear speeches extolling his life, Reuters said.

Defense Minister Mohammad Qasim Fahim, Masood's former intelligence chief in the Northern Alliance movement which fought the Taleban, paid tribute to the inspirational leader who died aged 48 near the Tajik border in a bomb attack triggered by two suspected Al Qaeda agents posing as journalists.

Many people suspect the attack was planned by Osama bin Laden, just two days before the September 11 attacks, to win favor with the Taleban.

"He was the one who resisted the Taleban and Al-Qaeda terrorist network for five and a half years and guided his people towards prosperity and freedom," said Fahim. "Despite all the difficulties he faced, he never gave up."

The colorful celebrations come four days after Afghan President Hamid Karzai narrowly escaped an attempt on his life and a huge car bomb went off in a busy Kabul district killing up to 26 people and wounding 150.

Security around the stadium was tight, with Afghan police working alongside the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) peacekeepers inside and outside the arena.

Two ISAF helicopters hovered above the hills overlooking the stadium.

Hundreds of green, red and black flags of Afghanistan flew, and Masood's 13-year-old son Ahmad sat alone, sheltering from the sun beneath an umbrella, under a huge portrait of his father.

The crowd of more than 10,000, consisting mainly of soldiers and schoolchildren, broke out into occasional applause and shouting in the stadium, where only a year ago the Taleban would carry out public executions.

Masood, who fought against the Soviet invasion of the 1980s before taking on the Taleban, is a hero to his ethnic Tajik kin, who formed the bulk of the Northern Alliance and took many of the key positions in the post-Taleban transitional government.

But his appeal is not as strong among the largest Pashtun ethnic group from which the Taleban drew its support in Afghanistan.

People in Kabul also remember Masood's part in the civil war of the early 1990s when he led one of the factions fighting for control of the city. The widespread destruction wrought during bitter internecine fighting can still be seen today.

In the southern city of Kandahar, the Taleban's former stronghold, there was little sign of the Masood anniversary which has been made a national holiday by Karzai.

Khalid Pashtun, a spokesman for Kandahar Governor Gul Agha Sherzai, said the authorities were more preoccupied with the investigation into last Thursday's assassination attempt on Karzai, which took place outside Sherzai's residence in Kandahar.

But in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, controlled by Northern Alliance commanders Abdul Rashid Dostum and Ustad Atta Mohammad, a large ceremony was held at the huge, blue-domed Zeyarte Sakhi Mausoleum.

In the Panjsher Valley, unarmed soldiers lined the winding dirt track which runs north from Kabul to Masood's shrine, set on a hill amid stunning mountain peaks where he made his fortress.

The burnt and rusting hulks of Soviet tanks and armored personnel carriers are testimony to the bravery and guile of his men, who would sweep down from the hills and ambush their quarry.

In villages along the road from Kabul to Bazarak, Masood's picturesque birthplace, tents were erected and animals slaughtered to give as gifts to the poor.

In Kabul, sadness at the death of Masood mixed with hope that the fall of the Taleban may mark the end of more than two decades of war and occupation in Afghanistan.

"I hope we can build a decent future for the country," said 21-year-old Ahmad Eddries Nawiene, who returned to Kabul from neighboring Pakistan three months ago. "But this is a very sad day for me. I will try to live my life as Masood lived his -- a servant of the Afghan people."

Abdul Saduk Zahi, 47, came from the Parwan Province to the northwest of the capital to pay his respects. He said Thursday's attack in Kabul and the assassination bid on Karzai should be seen as a warning in the West.

"If the international community does not help us to prevent these kinds of attacks, then they will just carry on," he said.