 |
| A bomb was
planted in a water tank at the mosque Karzai was praying in
during the funeral |
By
Husbanullah Mutawakil, IOL Afghanistan correspondent
PESHAWAR,
July 9 (IslamOnline) – Security forces in the Afghan city of
Jalalabad revealed that there was an assassination attempt on Afghani
President Hamid Karzai, during the funeral of Haji Abdul Qadir, the
assassinated Afghani Vice President on Sunday, July 7.
Abdul
Qadir was killed by anonymous snipers outside his office at the
ministry of public works in Kabul.
Speaking
to BBC’s Pashtu News Service Monday, July 8, Ajab Shah, the security
senior official in Jalalabad said that a bomb was discovered inside
one of the water tanks in the Central Mosque in the Afghani capital,
Kabul, where the funeral prayers were being held.
But
the Afghani official said that they unraveled the plot, which targeted
the highest officials in the Afghani government, including Karzai and
Burhanuddin Rabbani - the former president in Afghanistan - who were
both attending the funeral.
He
added that his forces arrested the person who placed the bomb in the
water tank and that he is now being questioned to find out his motives
and who is behind him, but he did not elaborate on this identity.
On
Saturday, July 6, after the assassination of Abdul Qadir, Karzai
announced that there will be a supreme committee to investigate the
incident headed by his Deputy Khalili and including Taj Mohammad
Wardek, the Minister of Interior, Mohammad Haneef Atmar, Minister of
Rural Development and Aref Surwali, the National Security General
Director.
Speaking
to Afghani newspaper, Okaz, on Sunday, July 7, Karzai said that he
does not rule out the possibility that the Taliban or Al-Qaeda may be
behind the incident.
Meanwhile,
ruling out that the motives behind his brother’s murder may be
personal, Haji Al Deen Mohammad, Abdul Qadir’s brother said that the
murder of his brother was politically motivated.
Abdul
Qadir, who became popular in the 1980s for his mujahideen war against
the Soviet occupation, joined the Northern Alliance after the U.S.-led
war in Afghanistan against the Taliban. Before this, he lived in
several European countries and in the United Arab Emirates after
fleeing Afghanistan during the Taliban rule.
He
participated in the Bonn conference in Germany in December 2001, to
have a position in the interim government. But he withdrew to protest
the small number of delegates who represent the Pashtun tribes, and he
announced his separation from the Northern Alliance.
Abdul
Qadir was chosen as the City Building Minister in the interim Afghan
government, as the mayor of Ningarhar, and the delegates of the
Eastern Provinces (Ningarhar, Konar, Ladman and Naderstan) chose him
to represent them in the Afghani National Council – the Loya Jirga.
After the formation of the Afghani government last month, he was also
given the post of Minister of Public Works and was appointed
Karzai’s Vice President.
