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Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s tenuous grasp on authority is being strained once again by his chronic indecision, say diplomatic observers here in Kabul. Karzai is groping for a way to end the bitter public struggle between his volatile Attorney General, Abdul Jabar Sabet, and police General Aminullah Amerkhel, who has returned to Kabul from exile in Britain to see off Sabet’s attempts to jail him. (See our film report yesterday: LAW AND ORDER MAN COMES HOME.)
The sordid spectacle of two of Karzai’s top lawmen fighting for survival is all the more shameful, given the extraordinary sacrifices forced upon Afghanistan’s beleaguered police forces. The interior ministry this week reported that 100 policemen have been killed in Taliban attacks over the past two months.
Gen. Amerkhel is in the protection of security forces loyal to the speaker of Afghanistan’s upper house of parliament, who is urging Karzai to return the former Kabul Airport police chief to service, possibly as head of security for the capital region. Senior Interior Ministry officials are also calling for General Amerkhel’s reinstatement.
But this has not deterred Attorney General Sabet from issuing threats to arrest his old rival. Tuesday, he dispatched two officers from Kabul’s District 16 station to Amerkhel’s home with orders to arrest him. They found only the general’s wife and seven children at the apartment - Amerkhel’s allies on the force had tipped him to Sabet’s plan.
This Afghan Keystone Cops caper dates back to last October, when the Attorney General removed Amerkhel from his post at Kabul Airport. Still today, Sabet has not detailed a single specific charge against the general.
One of Karzai’s former cabinet ministers tells skyreporter that the dispute stems largely from Sabet’s long-simmering animosity towards his rival. Police sources claim the Attorney General was jealous of Amerkhel’s investigative prowess against Kabul’s leading heroin smuggling gangs. And they point to other, darker possibilities.
Shortly after suspending Amerkhel from duty, Sabet purchased and began developing an expensive property in one of Kabul’s most exclusive neighbourhoods. Meantime, according to senior legislators and lawmen, drug trafficking has surged at Kabul Airport. Currently, as few as one or two would-be smugglers are apprehended each month. General Amerkhel often arrested five or more per week.
Mysteriously, the scandal has been ignored by both the Karzai regime and its foreign sponsors, whose diplomats use the airport daily, and whose soldiers are prey to Taliban and al Qaeda bombers financed, in part, by heroin profits.
It has been on another front, however, that the Attorney General has overreached himself. On April 17th, angered by an evening news report, Sabet ordered one of his relatives, the chief of Kabul’s police district 10 station, to lead an armed raid on Tolo TV, Afghanistan's most popular station. Seven journalists were arrested and taken to Sabet’s office, where several were badly beaten.
The reporters were released only after Sabet was served with an ultimatum from vice-president Ahmed Zia Massoud: let the journalists go, or prepare for a visit by the vice-president’s security team.
The raid on Tolo TV was immediately condemned by the U.N.’s Afghan mission, though once again the U.S., Canada, Britain and the rest of President Karzai’s foreign patrons have looked the other way, remaining silent.
Karzai, temporarily, has been able to stand by his man. But with increasing international news coverage of the incident - and of the regime’s broader plans to legislate a stranglehold on press freedoms – the president is said to be considering sacking Sabet, or shuffling him to a post where he can do less visible harm.
The move might come too late. Sabet’s blunders have added to speculation about the president’s own chances of clinging to power. In stark contrast to the image projected by his foreign backers in the west, Karzai has become increasingly unpopular in Afghanistan.
The public sees the Sabets of Karzai’s cabinet grow wealthy, while their own families wait in vain for reconstruction and new jobs – not to mention relief from the Taliban and al Qaeda. From Kabul’s traffic-choked streets, Afghans are confronted by massive posters of their president looking down on them: a smiling, self-satisfied visage, wholly at odds with the growing frustration and despair among his people.
Next on skyreporter.com, a new film report on another clear and present danger for Afghan policemen: deployment as rifle-butting punishment squads, cracking down on their country’s free news media.
13 Comments
Thanks Arthur for this great job. Yes, professional and honest people can not work in president Karzia government, otherwise they would face the same probelms like Amerkhel faced. The Western Backed of president Karzia government is doing its last attempt of survive, but it seems the survive attempt is worse. Karzia has been circled by a few corrupt, druglords and warlords to stap the demecratic process and hand over Afghanistan back to Taliban and Al-Qaida. In may ocasions, the honest people lost thier jobs and corrupt people took over. Ezatullah Wasisfi was arrested in USA in the charge of drug trafficking and put in the presion, but he served as the governor for Helmand province and now the director of anti corruption department in Kabul!!!!!!! how he will be able to follow the corrupt authoroties. This is very shame, we do not ask from the West to send more troops or money just remove all these people and make a good governmnet for us, otherwise the result would be difficult to accept both for us as Afghans and international communities. Shame for this government and who support it. West is claiming that wants to make Afghanistan a sample demecratic governmnet in all region, but support a corrupt government, who is backing Taliban, Hekmatyar and corrupt officers. We do not blame Karzia, we blame all the west, who support this governmnet and have imposed the President Karzia team on Afghans. This is the main reason of the Taliban reemergence in the country, since the countrymen lost thier hopes after five years. We understand, they are doing nothing better for us, only keep and support these corrupt poeple the holder of the second nationalities....to collect as more money as possible and leave Afghanistan to the Taliban and terrorists.
No hope of the reform and betterment for us, we are waiting for the mericle to save us and the last hope is this.
We pay the price along the American, British, Canadain and all Neto members.
Please save us from these extrimists and corrupt leaders.....
Regards
Waht a relal reports , dear Arthur we pray for your sucsus and best wishes, in this way to can find more and more facts aginst SABIT........
regds
dear arthur,
i see luck of crediblity in afghan police system, police should be aware what they are doing and where they are going for. the main reason is that afghan policing system is based on attetude of serving the roller not the community. that is why Mr.Sabit is using this point. the TOLO TV scandal was based on Sabit family relation with local chife plice, it was the weakness of interior ministry managment to make sure about his police opration.furthuremore, the case of Aminulla shows that no any support from ministry of intrior to cover his staff for patchy allegation. if it was case, it was the job of self ministry to investgate the case of aminulla and forward it to Mr Sabit office. In this context Mr sabit is opreating Police duty , national security job and his own office thus, all which he is doing out of his athourity and it is a crime.
arthur, we have to face the camra for a while towrds intriore ministry. where sabit is jumpping from............wrongly
A huge international airport conduit for smuggling to the world (protected by NATO / ISAF), a local government enriched by reconstruction never to occur, a gaggle of opium warlords cruising (like Somali Regulators), and those dreadful Tahliban in the south, it's springtime in Afghanistan and a wonderful time to visit. Are your papers in order? How about your head? Did you pack a flak jacket? Forget hiking boots, because, nobody leaves the wire.(Excuse me while I compose a travel brochure based on Arthur's excellent report.)
You're right Malcolm, it always pays to pack a sense of humour when you visit the West's Afghanistan. I had an interesting and encouraging afternoon yesterday, though - at Kabul University. Who'd ever expect that lawyers might be the answer? Yet the young attorneys in training I spoke with are truly a wellspring of hope. Optimistic, determined, talented - everything Mr. Karzai's cabinet creeps are not.
If only our own pollitical masters could show enough sense to stop propping up figures from the past, and let Afghanistan's genuine new democrats through.
Respected Brother]
Thank you very much for your struggle of Humanity,Humanity, and only Humanity, I got your website from Mr.Gery Lincoln, in Toronto and I'm thinking that he gives me all Afghanistn in my hand and that is because of you,I realy love those who present the Realitly to our beloved Humankind, we will die one day but the Reality will stay for a very long time. I hope to see you while you come back to our beloved Canada, we will be warm welcomming you.
Once again thank you very much for your good work.
your Truly.
Qari K Wardak (Ph.D)
former Legal Advisor for the Supreme Court of Afghanistan.