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Inquiry
Into "Mysterious Circumstances" Behind Afghan Aviation Minister's
"Tragic" Death
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Rahman
boarding the flight to New Delhi before being attacked and killed at
Kabul airport by pilgrims angry over flight delays. |
KABUL,
Feb. 15 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - International troops were patrolling
Kabul airport in armored vehicles Friday, after angry pilgrims, who had been
waiting for days in freezing temperatures, lynched Afghanistan's aviation
minister after he canceled their trip.
The
Afghan government investigated the mob killing, news agencies reported.
The
Afghan cabinet set up a five-minister commission to investigate the murder of
Aviation and Tourism Minister Abdul Rahman and "report as soon as
possible," foreign ministry spokesman Omar Samad told Agence France-Presse
(AFP).
"It
was an extremely tragic event," Samad said. "The interim
administration is saddened by it."
A
crowd of pilgrims, who had been waiting for days to set off for performing Hajj
(Pilgrimage), beat the minister to death Thursday, February 14, after they heard
he had cancelled their flight to Saudi Arabia, according to BBC's online news
service.
The
pilgrims had been waiting for days in freezing temperatures to board flights to
Mecca, and there were reports that two women had frozen to death, BBC reported.
Tempers
appear to have flared after two planes that were due to pick up the pilgrims
were delayed.
A
pilgrim named Mirza said they had paid $1,500 for the promised flights, a
fortune for ordinary Afghans.
Abdul
Rahman, who reportedly canceled their trip, was about to leave late Thursday for
New Delhi on a plane owned by state carrier Ariana.
"This
upset some people who obviously thought that they deserved some priority,"
Samad said. "And the fact that the minister was on board led to outrage and
rising emotion. Tension had been rising over the past 48 hours."
Meanwhile,
International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops were deployed at Kabul
airport to maintain order, following the tragic event, as British Foreign
Secretary Jack Straw arrived to visit the ISAF headquarters.
Afghan
leader Hami Karzai, for his part, deplored Abdul Rahman's tragic death and said
he had appointed a commission to investigate its "mysterious
circumstances."
Ahead
of a meeting with Straw in Kabul, Karzai said that "last night's incident
proves the point" that more security is needed in Afghanistan.
The
interim administration, which took office in December 2001, held an emergency
session late Thursday at the presidential palace to discuss the attack.
Samad
said some pilgrims had been arrested. "We're looking into the criminal
actions that have taken place here," he said.
Kabul
airport was sealed off Friday morning and police were stationed along the roads
leading to it.
The
attack shows the weakness of the fledgling Kabul police force in charge of the
civil aviation side of the airport where it took place.
The
minister's bodyguards were unable to save him from the mob who had surrounded
him and his plane.
International
peacekeepers "knew there was an ongoing incident, but it happened very
quickly," British Captain Graham Dunlop, a spokesman for the security force
said.
"We
were not involved," he said. "It's not our jurisdiction."
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