* Statement seen as swipe against Pakistan days after clash of security forces on the border
* Afghan president denies CIA cash buys off warlords
KABUL: Afghan President Hamid Karzai called on the Taliban on Saturday to fight Afghanistan’s enemies in what was widely seen as a swipe against Pakistan days after the neighbours’ security forces clashed on their border.
Karzai’s remarks are likely to unsettle already shaky ties with Pakistan and come as the United States wants Pakistan to help Afghanistan persuade the Taliban to engage in peace talks ahead of the withdrawal of most foreign troops by the end of next year.
“Instead of destroying their own country, they should turn their weapons against places where plots are made against Afghan prosperity,” Karzai told reporters in Kabul, saying this was “a reminder for the Taliban”.
“They should stand with this young man who was martyred and defend their soil,” he said, referring to a border policeman who was killed in the Wednesday night clash on eastern Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan. Two Pakistani soldiers were wounded.
Hundreds of men took to the streets of the eastern Afghan town of Asadabad on Saturday, near where the clash took place, to protest against both Pakistan and the United States.
A day earlier, thousands of men in Kabul rallied in support of the Afghan security forces.
Afghanistan and Pakistan have had testy relations since Pakistan was formed in 1947. Afghanistan has never officially accepted the border between them.
Karzai also revealed that he had spoken earlier on Saturday to the CIA’s Kabul station chief, asking that the intelligence agency continue to provide payments to his country.
There was a report in The New York Times late last month that said Karzai’s office had been receiving so-called ghost money from the CIA for the past more than a decade.
“Just this morning I met with the station chief of the CIA in Kabul and I thanked him for the support given to us in the past 10 years and I asked him to continue the support,” he said, adding that the money was “flowing to” Afghanistan’s intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security.
“In the situation of Afghanistan where there is so much need ... it proves extremely helpful.”
The New York Times said the money was meant to buy influence for the CIA but instead fuelled corruption and empowered warlords, undermining Washington’s exit strategy from Afghanistan.
Karzai, however, denied that the cash was used to buy the support of warlords who could tip the country back into civil war.
He said the bundles of cash – allegedly packed in suitcases, backpacks and plastic shopping bags – were used for healthcare and scholarships, and that full receipts were issued to the Americans.
“The major part of this money was spent on government employees such as our guards... it has been paid to individuals not movements. It is used for different issues such as treating patients, scholarships for youths... we give receipts for all these expenditures to the US government.”
Warlords, who fought against both the Soviet occupation in the 1980s and Taliban regime, retain huge influence, and many have close links to Karzai’s government that rose to power after the Taliban were ousted in 2001. agencies
Related tags:
Latest news, world news, current affairs, breaking news, arab
country news, daily news, Islamic news, india news, Pakistan news, , india Pakistan
news, current news, news headlines, Latest World News,Articles,
Latest news, latest urdu news, world news, current affairs,
breaking news, arab country news, sport news, cricket news, daily news, Islamic
news, india news, Pakistan news, india Pakistan news, current news,Current
affairs, Economic Affairs,Islam and Human Rights, Islam and Politics , Islam
and the West, Muslim Media, Islamic Society, Islamic World,Latest World
News, breaking news ,Top Breaking News, Current Affairs, daily news, recent
news, news headlines
No comments:
Post a Comment