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| Afghanistan |
| Bamiyan governor rejects thug as security chief... |
| 2003-01-07 |
| The governor of Bamiyan province has rejected the interior ministry's appointment of an alleged murderer as district security chief. Governor Mohammad Rahim Ali Yar flatly refused on Sunday to install Mohammad Mokhtar Ahmadi into the post in Yakawlang district, claiming the man was a criminal who would do nothing to improve security. "He doesn't have a good reputation among the people here," Ali Yar said. "In the pre-Taliban government he killed two innocent men in Yakawlang and he was sentenced to 25 years in prison by the Wahdat Party." They appointed a murderer as chief of security? Oh, good move... An investigation was launched into the killings before the Taliban's rise to power in 1996, and local authorities of Wahdat convicted Ahmadi of murder. "But since he had power and men and weapons he didn't go to jail," said the governor, himself a Wahdat party member. Par for the Afghan course, isn't it? Minister of Interior Taj Mohammad Wardak, whose ministry made the appointment, downplayed the governor's remarks. "He hasn't rejected him," the minister said, though he added he knew little about the case. "If the ministry of interior appoints someone for the provinces, the governors do not reject them," he added. "We will speak with the governor." Good idea. And listen when he talks, too... |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |