barrykind
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Extraordinary Security Clampdown for Burial of Afghan VP
Sunday, July 07, 2002
JALALABAD, Afghanistan — Thousands welcomed the body of slain Afghan Vice President Abdul Qadir back to his eastern stronghold Sunday as armed men patrolled the area to prevent trouble at the funeral of the longtime Pashtun leader who was assassinated in Kabul.
Checkpoints on major routes into this city, provincial capital of Nangarhar province, diverted traffic as a helicopter from the international peacekeeping force landed at the airport.
Qadir was slain Saturday by two unknown gunmen as he was driven from his office in the Afghan capital by a son-in-law, who also died. No one claimed responsibility.
Qadir's coffin, draped in a green, black and red Afghan national flag and sprinkled with red and white roses, was placed on a gun-carriage and driven past thousands of mourners lining the 3-mile route to his family home.
He was buried later in the day in a lush garden in the center of the city following a prayer service in Jalalabad's White Mosque. Qadir was governor of Nangarhar province as well as public works minister and vice president.
Qadir was the most prominent ethnic Pashtun in the government next to the president, Hamid Karzai. He was appointed as one of five vice presidents during last month's Afghan grand council, or loya jirga, to bring ethnic balance into a government which had been dominated by ethnic Tajiks.
Qadir's death threatens to stir unrest here in Nangarhar, a relatively wealthy trading and opium poppy-growing province that borders Pakistan. Unrest here could complicate efforts by the Karzai government to extend its authority beyond the capital.
In Washington, U.S. lawmakers said Qadir's assassination should compel the United States to consider an active role in providing security in the country. U.S. operations have been directed at pursuing Taliban and Al Qaeda fugitives rather than peacekeeping.
"This was definitely a throwback to the old Afghanistan and a setback to the establishment of the new Afghanistan," said Sen. Bob Graham, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, on NBC's Meet the Press.
In Jalalabad, one man was arrested Sunday morning in front of the White Mosque carrying a small amount of explosives, security chief Ajab Shah said. The man was being questioned and the explosives were being analyzed.
"We are very upset over the killing of Haji Qadir," said one of the mourners, Gul Badshas. "It's a conspiracy against the Afghans because when we are closer to peace and stability in Afghanistan, this incident happened."
Another mourner, Farhad, called the killing "a real setback for the Afghan nation." He said anxiety among the people of Nangarhar was running high.
Security here was extraordinary. Dozens of armed security troops stood guard at the Qadir family home, where a large crowd gathered to pay respects before the burial. Scores of others patrolled in the city's commercial district, where most shops had closed on what is normally a business day.
On main routes from Kabul to the west and the Pakistan border to the east, armed police manned checkpoints every few hundred yards on the outskirts of the city, diverting traffic to side roads.
Before the body left Kabul, thousands of mourners, including Karzai, gathered at the massive Eid Gah mosque in the heart of the capital for funeral prayers. Hundreds of Afghan and international troops cordoned off the area around the mosque, located in Old Kabul.
"This is a tragedy for my family," said Din Mohammed, an elder brother. "I don't know whom to blame."
The international peacekeepers' quick reaction force was on standby in case of trouble, and peacekeeper helicopters hovered over the mosque in Kabul during the services.
"We are so sad. This is a big loss and it is a big loss for all of Afghanistan. Whoever did this must pay," said Haji Saki, a former guerrilla fighter with Qadir.
Helmeted Interior Ministry police with machine guns lined roads leading from the mosque to the airport where the body was taken after the prayer. Rocket rutted roads leading to the mosque were closed to routine traffic. Cars on other main roads were searched by policemen with rocket launchers and Kalashnikov rifles slung over their shoulders.
"We believe it was an individual attack, designed to destabilize the transitional government," said Turkish Army Col. Samet Oz, spokesman for the peacekeepers, or the International Security Assistance Force. Turkey took over command of the estimated 5,000 soldiers last month.
The attack on Qadir took place about 12:40 p.m. as he was leaving by car from the heavily guarded Ministry of Public Works. The gunmen escaped but all 10 guards on duty at the ministry were arrested because they failed to react properly, according to Kabul police chief Din Mohammed Jurat.
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Posts: 3529 | From: Orange, Texas | Registered: Jun 2002
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