Karzai: Afghan Official Killed in Planned Attack

Feb. 15, 2002 -- Afghanistan's interim leader Hamid Karzai today said the killing of the country's civil aviation and tourism minister at the Kabul airport was a planned attack by officials within his administration.

Initial reports said Abdul Rehman was killed when a crowd of pilgrims, enraged by flight delays, attacked him as he attempted to board a flight to India.

But at a hastily convened news conference in Kabul today, Karzai dismissed reports that Rehman was killed by a crowd of people awaiting a flight to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, to make the hajj, or religious pilgrimage. Rehman's killing had "nothing to do with hajjis," Karzai said.

According to Afghanistan's interim leader, Rehman was killed by senior security officials from his administration for "personal reasons."

Despite repeated questions by reporters about what those reasons might be, Karzai refused to provide any details.

A list of five suspects in the alleged murder included the head of Afghanistan's intelligence services, Gen. Abdullah Jan Tawhidi, and Gen. KalandarBeg, a deputy in the defense ministry.

According to Afghanistan's interim information minister Abdul Rahim Makhdoom, three of the suspects had left for Saudi Arabia.

A senior Bush administration officials told PBS' The Newshour withJim Lehrer that Saudi Arabia has agreed to turn over the suspects.

An Unfriendly Game

Earlier today, a goodwill soccer match, billed the "game of unity," turned into a brawl between soccer fans and the local police attempting to control the crowds at the Kabul stadium today.

Several thousand fans, many of them without tickets for the match, were beaten back by the police as they tried to make their way into the stadium to watch a game between the local team and a team representing the ISAF (International Security Assistance Force).

German troops from the ISAF tried to contain the crowd from surging into the stadium, but were unable to maintain order.

Although the kickoff was delayed by 30 minutes, the game began despite the clash. The ISAF team won the game 3-1.

The game was supposed to be a step toward normality in the war-torn country that only a few months ago lived under the harsh Islamic edicts of the Taliban, which had banned virtually all forms of entertainment. The stadium became notorious during the Taliban years as a site for public executions.

Security Challenges

Karzai's statement today highlighted the precarious security situation in the Central Asian country that has seen more than 20 years of internecine fighting and has at various times in its history been a playing field for regional powers and superpowers pursuing their own geopolitical ends.

The fact that the incidents occurred in Kabul, which currently has an international peacekeeping force, was a grim indication of the need for security across Afghanistan.

During his latest round of foreign visits, Karzai repeatedly called for a larger international peacekeeping presence in Afghanistan.

Speaking to reporters before a meeting with visiting British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw in Kabul today, Karzai said Thursday's incident "proved the point" that additional security was needed in the war-ravaged country.

In December, the U.N. Security Council authorized a multinational force under British command for six months. The force is expected to reach its full strength of about 5,000 by the end of February.

But there has been little movement on the parts of governments to expand the international peacekeeping force.

Russians Among Prisoners

In recent days, a U.S. base in Kandahar in southern Afghanistan has come under periodic small arms fire from what is believed to be "pockets of al Qaeda and Taliban resistance."

The base is also home to a temporary holding center, where prisoners are detained before being flown to a detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Russian media today reported that Russian citizens were among the 254 detainees being held in Guantanamo Bay. A Russian news Web site, quoting unnamed Russian officials today reported that Chechen rebels who had fought for the Taliban were being held in Cuba.

However, U.S. and Russian officials refused to confirm the report.

And in the Yemeni capital of San'a, the names of five terror suspects were removed from the most-wanted lists on Thursday when it was discovered that they were already in custody in Yemen.

Also in Yemen, police say a man who blew himself up on Wednesday after local police closed in on him in San'a was related to one of the hijackers in the Sept. 11 attacks. A source close to President Ali Abdullah Saleh told ABCNEWS that Sameer Mohammed Ahmed al-Hada was the brother-in-law of one of the hijackers on the plane that crashed into the Pentagon on Sept. 11.

Eager to dispel the country's reputation as a haven for Islamic terrorists, Yemeni authorities have been cooperating with Washington in the international fight against terrorism.

U.S. Troops Deployed in Philippines

In other developments:

U.S. troops took off for the remote Basilan island in the Philippines. The island has been a hotbed of activity by Muslim guerrillas linked to Osama bin Laden. It is considered a training mission, and U.S. troops do not intend to engage the guerrillas themselves.

U.S. troops are training off the coast of Cuba against a possible attack by sea on the Camp X-Ray detention facility at the Guantanamo Bay naval facility, where nearly 300 al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners are being held.

Lofti Raissi, an Algerian pilot suspected of training some of the 11 September hijackers who was released on bail in London earlier this week, told reporter his time in jail was a "living nightmare."