Afghan president removes 2 top security officials

Associated Press

KABUL, Afghanistan

Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Sunday removed two of the country’s top security officials — each with longtime ties to the Americans — over last week’s attack on a national conference to explore peace with the Taliban.

The removals of the interior minister and intelligence chief surprised U.S. officials and may cause major disruption within Afghanistan’s intelligence and security establishment at a critical juncture — as the U.S. and NATO escalate the war and the Afghan government commits to offering peace to the insurgents. The move is likely to fuel speculation over differences within the Karzai administration over its efforts to reconcile with the Taliban — including the possible release of hundreds of detained militant suspects.

The head of the National Directorate of Security, Amrullah Saleh, was a senior figure in the Northern Alliance that helped the U.S. oust the Taliban regime in 2001. As a young man, Interior Minister Hanif Atmar served in Afghanistan’s Communist-era intelligence agency and fought mujahedeen opposed to the Soviet occupation.

“It’s a very significant event. There will be a massive fall-out from these resignations both in the Interior Ministry and the NDS as alliances are shuffled,” said Candace Rondeaux, senior analyst on Afghanistan for the International Crisis Group think tank.

“They appear to be forced resignations, and reflect significant worries of Karzai’s administration over the loyalty of those leading key security agencies in the country,” she said.

Replacing the security chiefs comes after Karzai’s May visit to Washington which had eased strains in the bilateral relationship. U.S. officials say the Afghan delegation had impressed with their preparations for the visit, widely seen as a boost to Karzai after a turbulent year marred by prolonged controversy over his re-election in a fraud-marred poll last August.

“Both the ministers of interior and intelligence are people we admire and whose service we appreciate,” Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said. He also noted the U.S. had favored Atmar for the interior ministry job.

But Gen. Stanley McChrystal, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, said in a statement he respected the Afghan president’s authority to make this “difficult decision.”

He said he remained confident in Karzai’s “ability to appoint credible replacements to lead these critical organizations.”

Saleh, an ethnic Tajik, had served as intelligence chief since 2004 and had a long-standing relationship with the CIA in the fight against the Taliban and al-Qaida.

British-educated Atmar, a former education minister, was first appointed interior minister in a 2008 Cabinet reshuffle aimed at rooting out high-level corruption in Karzai’s government. He was reappointed after Karzai’s re-election.

Sunday’s resignations were a surprise — not least as the attack on the jirga was thwarted. Security officials have rarely faced punishment or resigned over previous major attacks in the capital.

Two Taliban militants fired rockets where some 1,500 delegates — including lawmakers, tribal and religious chiefs — had gathered in a grand tent. One of the missiles landed about 200 yards away, but no delegates were hurt. The militants were later killed in a gunbattle with security forces in a house about a mile away.

Saleh said evidence showed that the Haqqani network, a Pakistan-based Afghan Taliban faction with close ties to al-Qaida, was behind the attack.

Karzai’s office said in a statement he had accepted the resignations because Atmar and Saleh had given unsatisfactory explanations. He appointed their deputies Munir Mangal at the interior ministry and Ibrahim Spinzada at intelligence as acting chiefs.