Ahmed Wali Karzai, the brother of the Afghan President Hamid Karzai and a suspected player in the booming illegal opium trade, gets regular payments from the CIA, and has for much of the past eight years, current and former US officials say.
The agency pays him for a variety of services, including helping to recruit an Afghan paramilitary force that operates at the CIA’s direction in and around Kandahar, Karzai’s home.
The financial ties and close working relationship between the CIA and Ahmed Wali Karzai raise significant questions about America’s war strategy, which is under review at the White House.
The ties to Ahmed Wali Karzai have created divisions within US President Barack Obama administration. The critics say the ties complicate the US’ tense relationship with President Karzai. The CIA’s practices also suggest that the US is not doing everything in its power to stamp out the Afghan drug trade, a major source of revenue for the Taliban.
Some US officials argue that the reliance on Ahmed Wali Karzai, the most powerful figure in a large area of southern Afghanistan where the Taliban are strongest, undermines the US push to develop an effective central government.
“If we are going to conduct a population-centric strategy in Afghanistan, and we are perceived as backing thugs, then we are just undermining ourselves,” said Major General Mike Flynn, the senior US military intelligence official in Afghanistan.
Ahmed Wali Karzai said an interview that he cooperates with US civilian and military officials, but does not engage in the drug trade and does not receive payments from the CIA.
US officials said that he helps the CIA operate a paramilitary group, the Kandahar Strike Force, that is used for raids against suspected insurgents and terrorists. The force has been accused of mounting an unauthorized operation against an official of the Afghan government, the officials said.
Ahmed Wali Karzai is also paid for allowing the CIA and US Special Operations troops to rent a large compound outside the city. The same compound is also the base of the Kandahar Strike Force.
“He’s our landlord,” a senior US official said.
He helps the CIA communicate with and sometimes meet with Taliban commanders.
Ahmed Wali Karzai’s role as a go-between between the Americans and the Taliban is regarded by supporters of working with Ahmed Wali Karzai as valuable now, as the Obama administration is placing a greater focus on encouraging Taliban leaders to change sides.
A CIA spokesman declined to comment.
Some US officials said that allegations of Karzai’s role in the drug trade were not conclusive.
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