Karzai confirms cash payments from Iran
Tuesday, 26 October 2010
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has acknowledged that his office has received cash from Iran, but insists it was part of a "transparent" process, report agencies.
Mr Karzai was responding to a report in the New York Times that Tehran had been passing bags stuffed full of cash to Mr Karzai's aides.
The cash was intended to promote Iran's interests in Kabul, the report said. However, Mr Karzai said the money was not for an individual but to help run the president's office.
Speaking at a news conference, he said many countries had given money to Afghanistan in this way, including the US.
Mr Karzai said he had spoken to President George W Bush about it when he was in office.
The New York Times report said that last August, at the end of an official visit to Iran by Mr Karzai, a large bag of euro notes had been passed to Mr Karzai's chief of staff, Umar Daudzai, by Iran's ambassador to Afghanistan, Feda Hussein Maliki.
It was part of a "secret, steady stream of Iranian cash to buy the loyalty of Mr Daudzai and promote Iran's interests in the presidential palace", the report said, citing Afghan and Western officials.
Mr Karzai was responding to a report in the New York Times that Tehran had been passing bags stuffed full of cash to Mr Karzai's aides.
The cash was intended to promote Iran's interests in Kabul, the report said. However, Mr Karzai said the money was not for an individual but to help run the president's office.
Speaking at a news conference, he said many countries had given money to Afghanistan in this way, including the US.
Mr Karzai said he had spoken to President George W Bush about it when he was in office.
The New York Times report said that last August, at the end of an official visit to Iran by Mr Karzai, a large bag of euro notes had been passed to Mr Karzai's chief of staff, Umar Daudzai, by Iran's ambassador to Afghanistan, Feda Hussein Maliki.
It was part of a "secret, steady stream of Iranian cash to buy the loyalty of Mr Daudzai and promote Iran's interests in the presidential palace", the report said, citing Afghan and Western officials.