Hamid Karzai ‘angry’ at taskforce for arrest of police chief accused of drug links

[EjazR]

Hamid Karzai ‘angry’ at taskforce for arrest of police chief accused of drug links - Times Online

Afghan intelligence officials expected high praise from their political masters after they arrested a police colonel accused of running a sophisticated drug-smuggling ring.

It was, after all, the first operation of the country’s new Major Crimes Taskforce; a “textbook” mission praised by Western mentors for taking a top scalp in the war on government corruption. Acting on information from a series of intercepted telephone conversations, Afghan commandos seized 80kg (176lb) of opium and almost four tonnes of marijuana in two raids in July. The colonel in question was arrested, along with his driver and two bodyguards, as he tried to board an aircraft at Kandahar airport.

However, instead of congratulations there were “howls of protest” from the Presidential Palace, officials said. A triumphant press conference was cancelled abruptly.

The Interior Minister was furious, intelligence sources told The Times, because the target — a border police chief in the southern province of Kandahar — was linked to President Karzai’s half-brother. “He was part of Ahmed Wali Karzai’s network,” said a senior government official involved in the case. “The President was very angry when he was arrested. Ahmed Wali was also very unhappy.”
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Afghan and Western officials said that President Karzai phoned the Interior Minister, Hanif Atmar, to complain. The minister, in turn, summoned the taskforce chiefs and demanded an explanation.

As a result, investigators now have to perform detailed political risk assessments before every operation, despite government promises to root out corruption.

The 45-year-old colonel, who can be identified only as Commander S, is due to stand trial today at a heavily fortified court on the outskirts of Kabul. Afghan law prevents suspects being named until their conviction is upheld by the country’s Supreme Court.

That this case has made it to trial at all is proof, diplomats say, that the anti-corruption taskforce can work — but investigators admit that their achievement has been marred by the political fallout.

Details surrounding Commander S’s arrest emerged as chief prosecutors claimed yesterday that there was enough evidence to charge two serving ministers and three former ministers — if only the President would waive their immunity and sign arrest warrants. “The President only has to grant his approval, then the trials can proceed,” said the Attorney-General, Mohammed Ishaq Aloko.

Mr Karzai promised to crack down on corruption during his inauguration speech last week, but his Western backers have demanded action rather than words. The President continues to defend his brother, who has denied allegations that he controls southern Afghanistan’s billion-dollar opium trade, dismissing the claims as politically motivated. Ahmed Wali, 48, has also denied claims that he has been on the CIA’s payroll for eight years.

Another of the President’s brothers, Mahmoud, has grown into one of the country’s richest businessmen since 2001. He won rights to Afghanistan’s biggest cement factory after delivering $25 million in cash to the Mining Ministry in a last-minute change to the bidding process.

“Karzai can’t get rid of these people,” said a government official. “He can’t even deal with corruption in his own office. All the corrupt officials, the drug traffickers and the warlords supported Karzai’s election campaign. These people control him.”

Commander S was chief of the border police in Arghestan district, on the border with Pakistan. He was also the acting police chief in Spin Boldak, the main crossing point between Kandahar and Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province.

Although Ahmed Wali’s only official position is head of Kandahar’s provincial council, he is viewed widely as southern Afghanistan’s most influential powerbroker. “Nothing moves down there without his say so,” said a Western official.

“I am powerful because I am the President’s brother,” Ahmed Wali said last week. “This is a country ruled by kings. The king’s brothers, cousins, sons, are all powerful. This is Afghanistan. It will change, but it will not change overnight.”

American officials have told President Karzai that they want his half-brother sidelined within six months but he is said to have demanded concrete evidence of wrongdoing and has so far not taken any action. US officials from the Drug Enforcement Administration, working alongside the Major Crimes Taskforce, intercepted Commander S’s mobile phone conversations this summer. “His voice was recorded,” said a taskforce spokesman. “He is suspected of having relations with a big drugtrafficking network.”

Agents from Afghanistan’s intelligence services, backed by FBI mentors and staff from Britain’s Serious and Organised Crime Agency (Soca), searched his home and a nearby warehouse in Arghestan, which was guarded by about 60 uniformed policemen.

Commander S was arrested, flown to Kabul and held in a dedicated counter-narcotics jail adjacent to the court. Officials familiar with the case claim that he has since made a full video confession.

Under Afghan law, he could halve his sentence by giving evidence against people further up the chain, but he might hold out for a presidential pardon instead.

Shortly before Commander S was arrested, Mr Karzai pardoned five convicted drug smugglers. One of them was related to his campaign manager.

The President’s spokesman directed inquiries to the Interior Ministry yesterday. A ministry spokesman refused to comment. In an interview two weeks ago, Mr Karzai said that the smugglers’ pardon was linked to the separate release of a student sentenced to life for blasphemy. “It is very hard for the Western audience to understand what I’ve done,” he said.
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Its very hard for the Eastern audience to understand as well Mr. Karzai!