Afghan president's half brother killed, leaving dangerous power vacuum in south

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Afghan president's half brother killed, leaving dangerous power vacuum in south

By Mirwais Khan, The Associated Press | The Canadian Press – 38 minutes ago

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - President Hamid Karzai's half brother, the most powerful

man in southern Afghanistan and a lightning rod for criticism of corruption in

the government, was assassinated Tuesday by a close associate. His death leaves

a dangerous power vacuum in the south just as the government has begun peace

talks with insurgents ahead of a U.S. withdrawal.

Ahmed Wali Karzai, the head of the Kandahar provincial council, was shot to

death while receiving guests at his home in Kandahar, the capital of the

province that was the birthplace of the Taliban movement and was the site of a

recent U.S.-led offensive.

Tooryalai Wesa, the provincial governor of Kandahar, identified the assassin as

Sardar Mohammad and said he was a close, " trustworthy " person who had gone to

Wali Karzai's house to get him to sign some papers.

As Wali Karzai was signing the papers, the assassin " took out a pistol and shot

him with two bullets — one in the forehead and one in the chest, " Wesa said.

" Another patriot to the Afghan nation was martyred by the enemies of

Afghanistan. "

The killing coincided with a visit to the capital, Kabul, by French President

Nicolas Sarzoky.

" This morning my younger brother Ahmed Wali Karzai was murdered in his home, "

the Afghan president said during a joint news conference with Sarkozy. " Such is

the life of Afghanistan's people. In the houses of the people of Afghanistan,

each of us is suffering and our hope is, God willing, to remove this suffering

from the people of Afghanistan and implement peace and stability. "

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the assassination at the heavily guarded

house, hidden behind 8-foot (2.5 metre) blast walls. The Interior Ministry said

an investigation was under way, and Kandahar Police Chief Gen. Abdul Raziq said

police have detained several men who were guarding Mohammad's home for

questioning about his recent activities.

President Karzai arrived in Kandahar on Tuesday evening by helicopter to attend

the funeral scheduled for Wednesday morning, according to Raziq.

Wali Karzai, who was in his 50s and had survived several previous assassination

attempts, was seen by many as a political liability for the Karzai government

after a series of allegations, including that he was on the CIA payroll and

involved in drug trafficking. He denied the charges. The president repeatedly

challenged his accusers to show him evidence of his sibling's wrongdoing, but

said nobody ever could.

Wali Karzai remained a key power broker in the south, helping shore up his

family's interests in the Taliban's southern heartland, which has been the site

of numerous offensives by U.S., coalition and Afghan troops to root out

insurgents. Militants have retaliated by intimidating and killing local

government officials or others against the Taliban.

The United Nations said in a quarterly report issued June 23 that more than half

of all assassinations across Afghanistan since March had been in Kandahar. In

April, the Kandahar police chief Khan Mohammad Mujahid was killed by a suicide

bomber wearing a police uniform who blew himself up beside the official's car.

According to a government official with knowledge of the investigation, Wali

Karzai was holding a meeting in his home with five provincial council members

and a number of local village elders, including the assassin. The official said

Mohammad was a close friend and had represented Wali Karzai many times in their

shared home village of Karz, the president's hometown. Mohammad was the village

elder of Karz and was his emissary and travel companion throughout Kandahar, the

official said.

At about 11:30 a.m. Mohammad asked Wali Karzai to speak with him privately and

to sign some papers in an adjoining room, the official said. Three shots rang

out, according to the official. Wali Karzai's bodyguards ran into the room and

found him on the floor with bullet wounds to his head, hand and leg. The

bodyguards shot and killed the assassin.

The government official said that it remains unclear whether the killing was the

result of an internal feud or a Taliban plot.

Although tribal rivalries are common in Kandahar, bloodletting within tribes is

fairly uncommon, he said.

Agha Lalai, deputy of the provincial council, said he was one of the first to

respond to the sounds of shots.

Lalai said that he and several other men picked up Wali Karzai and attempted to

carry him out of the house, but he died before they left the grounds.

In Kabul, the political elite reacted to the killing with shock and concern

about the future of the country's southern region and beyond. Though Wali Karzai

held an elected office in the provincial council, people who knew him said he

seemed to float above the various political and tribal spheres dominating the

south. Throngs of people came to Karzai's house on a daily basis seeking

remedies for everything from family disputes, to tribal battles, to political

intrigues.

Members of the international community had urged the president to remove his

brother from his powerful provincial position, saying that it was essential if

he was to prove to the Afghan people that he was committed to good governance.

But despite his alleged forays into narco-trafficking, smuggling, and land

theft, many Western officials also relied on him because of his unparalleled

reach and understanding of the various players in the area.

Noorolhaq Olomi, a former parliament member from Kandahar, said Wali Karzai was

the most powerful man in southern Afghanistan — " more of a governor than the

governor " and " everybody's leader in the south, not just Kandahar. "

" I cannot say whether this was political or personal or some other matter, "

Olomi said. " But whoever did it, it shows the weakness of this government. The

president needs to change things. He needs to change himself and build a

government that is real. Right now, there is no government. It's all a fraud. "

Condolences flooded into the president palace throughout the day.

Gen. Petraeus, the outgoing commander of NATO and U.S. forces in

Afghanistan, condemned the murder and said the coalition would support efforts

to prosecute anyone who played a role in the killing. " President Karzai is

working to create a stronger, more secure Afghanistan, and for such a tragic

event to happen to someone within his own family is unfathomable, " Petraeus said

in a statement.

Both Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf

Raza Gilani called the president to express their sadness at his brother's

death.

Abdullah Abdullah, the top opposition leader in Afghanistan who ran against

Karzai in the latest presidential election, called it " an act against national

personality and the ones who are at the service of the Afghan people. "

Mohammad Yusuf Pashtun, a senior adviser to the president for construction,

water, energy and mines, said the death will have a big impact on security in

southern Afghanistan.

" My first impression is that in spite of all the negative propaganda against him

he managed to be a source of stability in that area, " he said. " When it comes to

bringing people together in the south, this creates a vacuum. I don't know what

will happen now, but something must be done by the local leadership. "

Rangina Hamidi, a resident of Kandahar and daughter of the city's mayor, said

Wali Karzai is survived by five children — two sons and three daughters. She

says his youngest son was born about a month ago.

Wali Karzai has been the reported target of multiple assassination attempts.

In May 2009, a bodyguard was killed when his motorcade was ambushed by

insurgents but Wali Karzai was not harmed.

That attack came less than two months after four Taliban suicide bombers stormed

Kandahar's provincial council office, killing 13 people in an assault that Wali

Karzai said was aimed at him, although he had left the building a few minutes

beforehand.

Wali Karzai also survived a November 2008 suicide attack on the provincial

council offices that killed six other people.

___

Associated Press writers Amir Shah, Rahim Faiez, , Heidi Vogt and

Deb Riechmann in Kabul and Kathy Gannon in Islamabad contributed to this report.