Bodyguard kills Afghan prez Karzai’s half-brother

KANDAHAR: Afghan president Hamid Karzai’s half-brother Ahmed Wali Karzai was assassinated on Tuesday by a senior and highly trusted aide at his home. The death of Wali Karzai , the most powerful man in south Afghanistan and a controversially corrupt figure , leaves a political vacuum just as talks with Taliban have begun.

Kandahar police chief Abdul Razeq identified the assassin as Sardar Mohammad, commander of a force of 200 bodyguards who provided security to the younger Karzai's family in Kandahar for seven years. He said Mohammad showed a letter to Wali Karzai’s bodyguards, saying he had “urgent” business, and was sent into his study alone. Mohammad reportedly “shot two bullets – in the forehead and chest” .

Bodyguards who entered on hearing the gunshots , shot Mohammad dead.

Wali Karzai headed the provincial council of Kandahar , the birthplace of the Taliban and was a lynchpin in USTaliban dealings. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the assassination at the heavily guarded house, hidden behind 8-foot- high blast walls.

Wali Karzai, in his 50s, survived several assassination attempts, and was seen by many as a political liability after a series of allegations, including that he was on the CIA’s payroll and involved in drug trafficking. AGENCIES

In life and death, Af prez stands by sibling

KANDAHAR: Wali Karzai, Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai’s slain brother , had survived several previous assassination attempts . Very powerful in Afghanistan’s restive south, he was often considered a liability for the Karzai government . He was accused of being on CIA payroll and involved in drug trafficking.

The president repeatedly challenged his accusers to show him evidence of his sibling’s wrongdoing, but said nobody ever could.

The killing coincided with a visit to capital Kabul by French president Nicolas Sarzoky.

“This morning my younger brother Ahmed Wali Karzai was murdered in his home,” the Afghan president said at a joint news conference with Sarkozy. “Such is the life of Afghanistan’s people. In the houses of the people of Afghanistan, each of us is suffering and our hope is, God willing, to remove this suffering from the people of Afghanistan and implement peace and stability.”

Wali Karzai remained a key power broker in the south, helping shore up his family’s interests in the Taliban’s southern heartland, which has been the site of numerous offensives by US, coalition and Afghan troops to root out insurgents.

Militants have retaliated by intimidating and killing local government officials or others against the Taliban.