Karzai Blames Fellow Officials in Assassination

John F. Burns | New York Times | February 15, 2002

Afghanistan's interim leader Hamid Karzai says killing of aviation and tourism minister Abdul Rahman was personal vendetta carried out by other senior government officials, including intelligence chief, Gen Abdullah Jan Tawhidi and senior defense official, Gen Qalander Beg; both men are believed to be in Saudi Arabia; they are senior figures in dominant political faction in Northern Alliance, anti-Taliban coalition that forms core of Karzai government; Karzai says he has asked Saudi government to arrest them; assassination of Rahman, followed by outbreak of violence in Kabul, seems likely to stir new anxiety about fragile situation facing government; fear is that government itself could be torn apart by old enmities based on ethnic, tribal and political divisions that underlay miseries of past.

Copyright 2002 New York Times Company