Corruption charges against President Karzai's aide dropped

Corruption charges against President Karzai's aide dropped

2010-11-09 22:34:25 GMT+7 (ICT)

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (BNO NEWS) -- Corruption charges against Afghan President Hamid Karzai's aide have been dropped, an official said Tuesday.

In July, a U.S.-backed corruption probe led to the arrest of Mohammad Zia Salehi, a senior official in Afghanistan's Security Council, who, according to further investigations, had been on the Central Intelligence AGency's (CIA) payroll.

During the incident, Karzai decided to publicly intervene and release Salehi from prison, explaining he was angered that the U.S.-backed Major Crimes Task Force had built the case against the top aide.

Salehi had been caught soliciting money in a wiretapped telephone conversation related to a company that was suspected of transferring money for Afghan leaders, drug traffickers, and militants.

According to reports, Deputy Attorney General Rahmatullah Nazari, whose office had been running the case, said that all charges against Salehi had been dropped because voice-recorded evidence can only be used in drug-related cases and not corruption cases.

Nazari said an additional 20 senior officials, including two members of the Karzai cabinet, are currently being investigated for corruption cases.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2010-11-09