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| Afghanistan |
| Atmar, Saleh Resignation "Disaster": Report |
| 2010-06-08 |
| The resignation of two top Afghan officials is seen as 'disaster' for international efforts to improve security, the guardian reports The Afghan interior minister, Mohammad Hanif Atmar, and the head of National Directorate of Security (NDS), Amrullah Saleh, have resigned over security breaches at the opening of the three-day peace conference last week. The resignation of the internationally respected members of President Karzai's government comes after the Taliban launched rockets on the gathering of 1,600 national leaders and delegates. The resignation of Hanif Atmar, the British university-educated interior minister, and intelligence chief Amrullah Saleh will be regarded as a huge setback for foreign-backed efforts to improve security and to reform the corrupt, barely literate and largely untrained police force, the report added. A western security expert who has worked closely with both men said the double resignation was a "disaster" and ensured that the international mission in Afghanistan "was now doomed further", it said. "These are two of the most important people in the security sector who were finally getting a better reputation for their offices and clearing up corruption within them. If they are replaced by corrupt cronies, then we might as well all pack up and go home now," the guardian quoted the expert as saying. The resignations also prompted speculation in Kabul that Karzai had seized the opportunity to get rid of two men he had lost trust in, despite the strong support they had from foreign embassies, it noted. "The significance of their removal is very profound and speaks volumes about the growing paranoia in the palace about the loyalties of those who have been central to the Karzai administration for the last several years," said Candace Rondeaux, senior Afghanistan analyst at the International Crisis Group. |
| Posted by:Fred |