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Half Brother of Afghan President Is Killed in Kandahar
By ALISSA J. RUBIN, CARLOTTA GALL and RUHULLAH KHAPALWAK
Published: July 12, 2011
KABUL, Afghanistan The powerful half brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai was shot dead on Tuesday by a close family associate, according to Karzai family friends who were nearby.
Banaras Khan/Agence France-Presse Getty Images
Ahmed Wali Karzai, President Hamid Karzais half brother
Ahmed Wali Karzai, the provincial council chairman for Kandahar, who was the most powerful person in the province if not all of southern Afghanistan, was killed by Sardar Mohammed, a regular visitor to Mr. Karzais residence in central Kandahar, witnesses said. Initial reports had said he was killed by a bodyguard.
Mr. Mohammed was a commander of security posts near Karza just south of Kandahar city, according to Mr. Karzais driver. President Karzai held a press conference in Kabul with French President Nicolas Sarkozy barely two hours after the shooting and, speaking in a steady voice, confirmed his brothers death.
This is the life of Afghan people, this sorrow is in every Afghan home, everyone of us has this sorrow, he said.
He then turned to Mr. Sarkozy and said, We welcome Mr. Sarkozy and hope he forgives us for not speaking with a smile today. President Karzai was a stalwart supporter of his brother, defending him strongly when he was accused by opponents and Westerners of involvement with the drug trade and corrupt security companies.
The assailant was killed almost immediately by bodyguards, according to people close to Ahmed Wali Karzai, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the subject.
The shooting happened at 11 a.m., according to witnesses. Mr. Karzai was shot twice in the head at point-blank range. A provincial official, Haji Agha Lalai, was in the next room when it happened and helped carry the slain governor on a makeshift stretcher to a car and accompanied him to the hospital.
I was holding him and I was not very sure he would survive, he said. It was confirmed in the hospital that he was dead. The assailant shot him with a pistol from the front, he said.
The motivation for his assassination was unclear. The Taliban claimed responsibility almost immediately, but several leaders in Kandahar said they doubted the claims.
The killing took place as Mr. Karzai was receiving petitioners, provincial colleagues and friends at the house in central Kandahar that was the citys political center of gravity as well as his residence. More than 60 people were there at the time of shooting, witnesses said.
Full story
By ALISSA J. RUBIN, CARLOTTA GALL and RUHULLAH KHAPALWAK
Published: July 12, 2011
KABUL, Afghanistan The powerful half brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai was shot dead on Tuesday by a close family associate, according to Karzai family friends who were nearby.
Banaras Khan/Agence France-Presse Getty Images
Ahmed Wali Karzai, President Hamid Karzais half brother
Ahmed Wali Karzai, the provincial council chairman for Kandahar, who was the most powerful person in the province if not all of southern Afghanistan, was killed by Sardar Mohammed, a regular visitor to Mr. Karzais residence in central Kandahar, witnesses said. Initial reports had said he was killed by a bodyguard.
Mr. Mohammed was a commander of security posts near Karza just south of Kandahar city, according to Mr. Karzais driver. President Karzai held a press conference in Kabul with French President Nicolas Sarkozy barely two hours after the shooting and, speaking in a steady voice, confirmed his brothers death.
This is the life of Afghan people, this sorrow is in every Afghan home, everyone of us has this sorrow, he said.
He then turned to Mr. Sarkozy and said, We welcome Mr. Sarkozy and hope he forgives us for not speaking with a smile today. President Karzai was a stalwart supporter of his brother, defending him strongly when he was accused by opponents and Westerners of involvement with the drug trade and corrupt security companies.
The assailant was killed almost immediately by bodyguards, according to people close to Ahmed Wali Karzai, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the subject.
The shooting happened at 11 a.m., according to witnesses. Mr. Karzai was shot twice in the head at point-blank range. A provincial official, Haji Agha Lalai, was in the next room when it happened and helped carry the slain governor on a makeshift stretcher to a car and accompanied him to the hospital.
I was holding him and I was not very sure he would survive, he said. It was confirmed in the hospital that he was dead. The assailant shot him with a pistol from the front, he said.
The motivation for his assassination was unclear. The Taliban claimed responsibility almost immediately, but several leaders in Kandahar said they doubted the claims.
The killing took place as Mr. Karzai was receiving petitioners, provincial colleagues and friends at the house in central Kandahar that was the citys political center of gravity as well as his residence. More than 60 people were there at the time of shooting, witnesses said.
Full story