Ghani’s close aides accused of links to terrorists

KABUL (Monitoring Desk): Some lawmakers in the Wolesi Jirga, the Lower House of Parliament, on Saturday accused a number ofclose aides to President Ashraf Ghani of acting against Afghanistan’s national interests and having links with Daesh militants.

“I officially say here that (head of National Directorate of Security) Masoom Stanekzai is behind Daesh project (in Afghanistan) and Akram Khpolwak is a child of ISI (Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency) and is responsible for signing the Durand Line,” claimed Lalai Hamidzai, an MP from Kandahar.

The remarks come after the Wolesi Jirga’s first deputy speaker Humayun Humayun in a letter to the National Security Council wrote about the existence of ‘suspicious individuals’ in the NDS chief Massom Stanekzai’s guesthouse.

“Two times, I saw people who walked out of his (Stanekzai’s) guesthouse.” Humayun said. “They are very well-known people and all the media outlets speak out about their activities in deterioration of security (in the country).” TOLOnews could not have Presidential Palace’s comments about the MPs’ remarks.

Two weeks ago, government officials searched Humayun’s office over suspicious activities allegations. Humayun however said government wanted to put him under pressure by this move. Other MPs meanwhile criticized government over searching Humayun’s office.

“Imagine the future of the people if the president (Ashraf Ghani), the NDS chief (Masoom Stanekzai) and the former NDS chief as well as a collective of groups emerge as plotters in such a way,” saidAbdul Latif Pedram, an MP from Badakhshan. “All the MPs have an obligation to know through an investigation by the Attorney General’s Office that why the house of the first deputy speaker of the Wolesi Jirga was searched,” MP Nader Khan Katawazai said.

Meanwhile, President Ashraf Ghani has assigned the Attorney General’s Office to probe a “leaked discriminatory document” of the Ministry of Interior (MoI). The letter was sent by commander of the Afghan Public Protection Force to officials calling for a list of candidate recruits for the anti-riot unit.

The document, leaked to the media earlier this week on Sunday, called for a list of names of people of Hazara, Pashtun, Uzbek and other ethnicities – except Tajiks. Presidential Palace said in a statement on Friday that the Attorney General’s Office was assigned by President Ghani to investigate the document and act against the perpetrators.

President Ghani has meanwhile assigned Ministry of Interior to reveal all the facts and the steps taken against the issue in a press conference, the statement said. According to the statement, the interior ministry has been assigned to cooperate with the Attorney General’s Office in this respect.