Tuesday, March 09, 2010
Abdul Zahir (AP Photo/Rory Donohoe)
After U.S. forces pushed the Taliban out of the southern Afghanistan town of Marja, Afghan officials installed Abdul Zahir Aryan to serve as the local representative of the government. Zahir’s job is to demonstrate to locals that siding with Kabul is better than helping the Taliban, but that task has become complicated by Zahir’s criminal history.
Before retuning to Afghanistan, Zahir lived in Germany for more than a decade, during which he served four years in prison for attempted murder after stabbing his stepson. Several American officials confirmed this fact off the record when asked about it by The Washington Post. Neither U.S. nor Afghan officials have been forthcoming about Zahir’s past.
Afghan leaders have promised to look further into Zahir’s criminal record in Germany.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
New Top Official in Marja, Afghanistan, was Convicted of Stabbing Stepson (by Joshua Partlow and Jabeen Bhatti, Washington Post)
Afghan: Marjah Chief's Crime Recordw will be Probed (by Deb Riechmann and Kirsten Grieshaber, Associated Press)
New Government Takes Official Control of Marjah (by Alfred de Montesquiou, Associated Press)
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