Turmoil for Karzai as ministers quit

KABUL - Two of the most powerful members of President Hamid Karzai's Government resigned yesterday, plunging Afghanistan into fresh political crisis.

The Interior Minister, Hanif Atmar, and the Security Minister, Amrullah Saleh, both quit unexpectedly, apparently after Karzai blamed them for failing to stop the Taleban's embarrassing attack during his presidential speech at a conference in Kabul last week to discuss plans for peace.

Taleban militants fired rockets and battled with security forces close to the venue but no delegates were injured.

Both Saleh and Atmar held key jobs in the Government's battle against the Taleban, with the spy chief responsible for gathering intelligence about the militants, used not just by the Afghan security forces but also by Nato troops.

Atmar oversaw the expansion of the police force, which the West sees as perhaps the most important preparation for the handover of security operations to the Afghan Government.

One Western diplomat speculated that in Kabul, it was Atmar's failures building up the fledgling Afghan police force that led to his dismissal.

"He's more of a politician, not a manager," one said. He's a politician with ambitions so he needed to be removed from the decision-making inside the ministry."

Friends of Saleh say his resignation was because of growing resentment towards Karzai.

"Amrullah Saleh had differences when it came to security issues with Karzai," one confidant said.

"The intelligence network made a lot of sacrifices to get some of these terrorists in prison. Instead of condemning the Taleban, Karzai praised them."

"Pakistan has put several conditions" on collaborating with the Afghan government's plans for peace with the Taleban "and one of those was the removal of Amrullah Saleh as intelligence chief", Saleh's friend said.

- INDEPENDENT