Hamid Karzai told his brother might be a drug dealer

Calcutta News.Net
Sunday 5th October, 2008

Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, has been accused of being involved in the illegal drug trade.

The New York Times has reported US officials have discussed the allegations with the CIA and top Afghan officials.

But the Afghan president has so far resisted suggestions his brother might be involved and has called for conclusive evidence against Mr Ahmed.

But the Times has indicated that indirect evidence against Ahmed Wali Karzai continues to mount.

When Afghan security forces found an enormous cache of heroin hidden outside Kandahar in 2004, a telephone call to local officials from Ahmed Wali Karzai was enough to have the drugs released.

Ahmed Wali Karzai is head of the Kandahar Provincial Council.

Two years later, American and Afghan counternarcotics forces stopped a truck near Kabul and discovered more than 50 kilograms of heroin in it.

After that seizure, US investigators discovered alleged links between the shipment and an intermediary for Ahmed Wali Karzai.

Ahmed Karzai has dismissed the suggestion of drug dealing as a politically motivated attack by longtime enemies.

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