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Karzai aide arrested on corruption charges has ties to CIA | FP Passport
Morning Brief: Karzai aide arrested on corruption charges has ties to CIA
Posted By David Kenner Thursday, August 26, 2010 - 8:28 AM
Top story: Mohammed Zia Salehi, an aide to Afghan President Hamid Karzai who was arrested last month on corruption charges, has been on the CIA's payroll for years, according to Afghan and U.S. sources. Salehi's exact job for the U.S. intelligence agency remains unclear. However, his case has reopened the debate within the Obama administration regarding whether the United States should press Karzai to crack down on corruption, or accept that it must cut deals with unethical officials in order to stabilize the Afghan government.
Karzai personally intervened to secure Salehi's release from prison, and subsequently hinted at limiting the power of the anticorruption unit that arrested him. Afghan sources predicted that the president will never allow the prosecution of Salehi to move forward because of his intimate knowledge of the workings of the presidential palace. Karzai also summoned the Afghan general that oversees the anticorruption unit to seek an explanation for the arrest.
Salehi was arrested as part of an investigation into a money transfer firm that specializes in transferring funds out of Afghanistan to wealth Afghans - including politicians, insurgents, and drug dealers. Afghan investigators arrested him after they caught him on tape trying to solicit a bribe to obstruct the U.S.-backed investigation into the firm.
Morning Brief: Karzai aide arrested on corruption charges has ties to CIA
Posted By David Kenner Thursday, August 26, 2010 - 8:28 AM
Top story: Mohammed Zia Salehi, an aide to Afghan President Hamid Karzai who was arrested last month on corruption charges, has been on the CIA's payroll for years, according to Afghan and U.S. sources. Salehi's exact job for the U.S. intelligence agency remains unclear. However, his case has reopened the debate within the Obama administration regarding whether the United States should press Karzai to crack down on corruption, or accept that it must cut deals with unethical officials in order to stabilize the Afghan government.
Karzai personally intervened to secure Salehi's release from prison, and subsequently hinted at limiting the power of the anticorruption unit that arrested him. Afghan sources predicted that the president will never allow the prosecution of Salehi to move forward because of his intimate knowledge of the workings of the presidential palace. Karzai also summoned the Afghan general that oversees the anticorruption unit to seek an explanation for the arrest.
Salehi was arrested as part of an investigation into a money transfer firm that specializes in transferring funds out of Afghanistan to wealth Afghans - including politicians, insurgents, and drug dealers. Afghan investigators arrested him after they caught him on tape trying to solicit a bribe to obstruct the U.S.-backed investigation into the firm.
