Forum Views ()
Forum Replies ()
Read more with google mobile :
Karzai says his office gets bags of money from Iran
|
Edition:
U.S.
Article
Comments (1)
Email
Print
Reprints
Full Focus
Editor's choice
A selection of our best photos from the past 24 hours. Full Article
Read
U.S.-South Korea aircraft carrier drill called off: report
24 Oct 2010
BP CEO slams media, rivals for boosting spill fears
9:49am EDT
Wall St rises on dollar weakness, Fed stimulus talk
|
11:28am EDT
Bank of America finds foreclosure mistakes: report
8:53am EDT
US STOCKS-Futures rise as dollar falls after G20
7:22am EDT
Discussed
65
Jobs blasts rivals as iPad sales disappoint
54
Special Report: The haves, the have-nots and the dreamless dead
47
Special report: Conservative donors let Christine O’Donnell sink
Watched
Katy Perry weds; Damon a dad
Sun, Oct 24 2010
Mexico's 20-yr old police chief
Thu, Oct 21 2010
Russian spy poses for Maxim
Tue, Oct 19 2010
Karzai says his office gets "bags of money" from Iran
Tweet This
Share on LinkedIn
Share on Facebook
Factbox
Factbox: Incidents stirring U.S.-Afghan tensions
Wed, Oct 20 2010
Related News
Ousted Afghan governor warns of Iranian influence
12:57am EDT
Afghan leader sees hope for peace, reconciliation
Wed, Oct 20 2010
Pakistan says willing to assist Afghan talks
Fri, Oct 15 2010
NATO helped bring Taliban official to Kabul: Petraeus
Fri, Oct 15 2010
Analysis & Opinion
Too many butchers spoil the cow
Gen Petraeus turns up the heat on Pakistan, Afghanistan
Related Topics
World »
Afghanistan »
Earnings »
Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai (L) welcomes his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Kabul March 10, 2010.
Credit: Reuters/Sorkhabi/Pool
By Hamid Shalizi
KABUL |
Mon Oct 25, 2010 11:52am EDT
KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Monday his office receives cash in bags from Iran, but said it is a transparent form of aid that helps cover expenses at the Presidential Palace and the United States makes similar payments.
The comments came after a report on Sunday that Karzai's chief of staff, Omar Dawoodzai, receives covert bagfuls of money -- possibly as much as $6 million in a single payment -- from neighboring Iran in a bid to secure influence and loyalty.
The New York Times, citing an unnamed Afghan official, said that millions of dollars in cash channeled from Iran have been used to pay Afghan lawmakers, tribal elders and Taliban commanders.
Karzai said he gets money from several "friendly countries" but named only the United States and Iran, the latter contributing up to 700,000 euros ($976,500) twice a year.
He would continue to ask for Iranian money, he added.
"The government of Iran assists (my) office with five or six or seven hundred thousand euros once or twice a year, which is official aid," Karzai told reporters at a joint press conference in Kabul with visiting Tajik President Imomali Rakhmon.
"This is transparent, this is something that I have discussed even with (former) President George (W) Bush, nothing is hidden, the United States is doing the same thing...it does give bags of money, yes, it's all the same."
Karzai said the money was used for palace expenses, salaries and for "people outside," but gave no further details.
"Cash payments are done by various friendly countries to help the presidential office to help expenses in various ways to help the employees around here, and people outside," Karzai said.
"We will continue to ask for cash from Iran."
The insurgency raging in Afghanistan is now the bloodiest it has been since the 2001 ouster of the Taliban, despite the presence of 150,000 foreign troops.
Afghanistan and its Western allies are dangerously underestimating Iran's destabilizing influence on the country, a former governor of a border province who claims he was ousted for his criticisms of Tehran told Reuters this week.
WIDE INTERESTS, "DOUBLE GAME"
Iran has wide and growing influence in Afghanistan, especially the west of the country where it has important economic ties. Millions of Afghans were refugees in Iran during three decades of war and Dari, an offshoot of Iran's Farsi language, is one of the two state languages in Afghanistan.
Tehran joined talks with a high-level group on Afghanistan for the first time earlier this month, and U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke said the United States recognizes that Iran has a role to play in resolving the Afghan conflict.
1
2
Next
World
Afghanistan
Earnings
Comments
See All Comments (1) | Post Comment
Oct 25, 2010 11:25am EDT
The initial objective for Afghanistan remains valid – destroy al Qaeda and the Afghani Taliban. These two groups caused extreme pain and suffering to innocent Americans inside our border. Our pursuit should continue to be unrelenting and deadly.
At this point, however, politics, PACs, lobbyists, and defense contractors are pulling the strings – they want the fight to go on so the money continues to flow. This is what happened during Vietnam, only it was on a much less sophisticated, and much smaller scale.
The U.S. needs to relook strategy and address shortfalls. It appears we only have four policies – friend, enemy, friend by payoff, enemy at bay by payoff. We need a more cognitive, multi-pronged foreign affairs policy to avoid future quagmires, which cuts out the undue influence from within and from beyond our borders.
trajan52
Report As Abusive
See All Comments (1)
Add a Comment
*We welcome comments that advance the story directly or with relevant tangential information. We try to block comments that use offensive language or appear to be spam and review comments frequently to ensure they meet our standards. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters.
© Copyright 2010 Thomson Reuters
Editorial Editions:
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
United States
Reuters
Contact Us
Advertise With Us
Help
Journalism Handbook
Archive
Site Index
Video Index
Reader Feedback
Mobile
Newsletters
RSS
Podcasts
Widgets
Your View
Analyst Research
Thomson Reuters
Copyright
Disclaimer
Privacy
Professional Products
Professional Products Support
Financial Products
About Thomson Reuters
Careers
Online Products
Acquisitions Monthly
Buyouts
Venture Capital Journal
International Financing Review
Project Finance International
PEhub.com
PE Week
FindLaw
Reuters on Facebook
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.
Other News on Monday, 25 October 2010 Afghanistan offers possible loophole for security firms
U.N. will help, but not discuss, Afghan peace talks
|
Alonso wins in Korea, takes F1 championship lead
Karzai seeks list of aid projects needing security
Somali pirates hijack two ships over weekend
|
Aid report cites abuses as Angola deports Congolese
|
Holidays to suffer as French petrol pumps run short
|
Italian government puts Naples dump on hold
|
Taiwan star returns after suffering serious burns in China
No plea deal on eve of Khadr's Guantanamo trial: lawyer
Iran says some academic courses too Western
|
Zhang, Feng put China top at gymnastics worlds
Pirates seize 2 ships off Kenya
Rebels, police clash in Philippines; chief missing
Correction: India-Brand-Perry wedding story
U.S. Diabetes Rate Expected To Rise Sharply By 2050
Man Electrocuted Stealing Copper Wire
Clint Eastwood not a fan of President Obama
|
Eminem, Nicki Minaj top MTV rappers list
|
South Park duo apologize for accidental copying
|
Paranormal 2 leads North American box office
|
Comic Brand, pop star Perry wed in India
|
World To Have 9 Billion People By 2050
Suspected iPhone Thief Nabbed Due to "I'm Me" Tattoo on Forehead
Man Drops Phone In Toilet, Gets Arm Stuck Trying To Recover It
Tattoo Company Draws Interest With "Slutty" Slogan
Loophole for security firms on offer in Afghanistan
Strikers restore blockade at French fuel depot
Haiti cholera toll tops 250
|
NATO death toll in Afghanistan this year hits 600
German firms blocking Facebook over security: report
Bomb kills six at Sufi shrine in eastern Pakistan
|
EU close to embracing Serbia
Sarkozy hopes end in sight for French pension protest
U.N. will help, but not discuss, Afghan peace talks
|
NATO: Service member killed in eastern Afghanistan
As e-voting comes of age, security fears mount
Japanese joins the ranks of sequenced genomes
Pirates seize two ships in Indian Ocean
Mexican mourn slain party-goers in drug war city
|
Fatal Shark Attack Closes 3 California Beaches
More high-level Taliban interested in talks: Holbrooke
EU leaders wary of plan to re-open Lisbon treaty
Holocaust survivors hail German ministry expose
Global Weather-Celsius
Rich Chinese show off their wealth on the water
Thai political crisis fuels social media boom
Japan faces 'more severe' security situation: PM
Indian PM in Japan for nuclear, trade talks
Adobe aims to stay independent: report
|
Sony cuts PSPgo handheld prices in U.S., Japan
|
Italy orders Google to mark Street View cars: report
|
India, Japan PMs to confirm trade pact
London's fruit trees offer bountiful urban harvest
Japan's September export growth slowest this year
Vienna Ballet shows promise with bright premiere
Toyota to revise dollar forecast to 80 yen: report
US designer at odds with over-stimulated Armani
China protecting strategic interests with rare earths policy
Pop star Selina Jen injured in China filming
Japan, India to sign trade, investment deal
Taiwan-China name row erupts at Tokyo film festival
The house that Ambani built and Mumbai property woes
Strong yen, waning demand erode Japan's exports
France buys eight works at major art fair, spending down
Superstitious Football Fans Blamed For Deadly Stadium Stampede
Japan's exports rise 14.4 percent in September
Paranormal Activity 2 spooks to top of box office
Brand, Perry wed at tiger reserve in India
Brand and Perry wed in India
|
Canadian DJ rebuked for insulting Justin Bieber
|
Celebrity life swap coming to CBS
|
Canadian Khadr pleads guilty in Guantanamo trial
|
Cameron to unveil 'strategy for growth'
Special report: Is aid doing Haiti more harm than good?
|
Tsunami warning relaxed after Indonesia quake
|
Raid, strike kill 15 insurgents in Afghanistan: NATO
|
USDA Recalls Nearly 3,000 Pounds Of Beef Jerky
French strikes and fuel shortages eat into economy
|
U.N.: More peacekeepers couldn't halt new Sudan war
|
Napa Mental Patient Arrested For Killing Hospital Worker
Nine Inch Nails To Release Digitally-Remastered "Pretty Hate Machine" With New Artwork, Bonus Track
15 Nobel laureates ask G20 to raise Liu case
|
Three Students Arrested After Cops Find Drug Lab In Dorm Room
Treaty change debate divides EU foreign ministers
|
Northern Illinois University Locks Down Dorms Amid Probe Of Student Death
Karzai says his office gets bags of money from Iran
|
"Paranormal Activity" Sequel Spooks Up Films At Box Office Weekend
Australians vying for a slice of Oprah
Search called off for Nepalese mountaineer
Thousands told to flee in Indonesia volcano alert
Battle for Middle Earth on streets of New Zealand
Thai floods death toll hits 41
Fourteen dead in oil pipeline blaze in Myanmar
Shanghai Expo breaks 70 mln visitor target
Facebook investor Mail.ru eyes up to $876 million in IPO
|
Japan protests to China over boats near islands
Japan, India PMs reach broad agreement on trade pact
MySpace developing Jerk All-Stars dance series
|
Asustek to end cellphone cooperation with Garmin
|
Australian terror leader denied reduced sentence
BP sells Mexican Gulf assets to Japanese group
Aussie man jailed for busting dog out of 'death row'
India's top court to hear Vodafone tax appeal
S.Korea sends promised flood relief aid to N.Korea
S.Korea puts EU FTA deal to lawmakers for approval
Focus on global currency pact turns to enforcement
Toyota's global vehicle output falls in September
Sony slashes portable game machine price in Japan
New Zealand's Hobbit crisis spurs national rallies
|
MySpace developing Jerk All-Stars dance series
|
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights