Afghan President Hamid Karzai has announced a major reshuffle of local and provincial officials nationwide, including the ouster of 10 provincial governors, mostly those seen as having unduly close relationships with NATO military leadership.
The moves came as part of an effort to “crackdown on nepotism and corruption,” a long-standing issue across Afghanistan, and one which Karzai has unsuccessfully pledged to tackle for years.
The most heavily disputed ouster was Helmand Governor Gulab Mangal, who has been openly backed by British officials, and reportedly they had blocked previous Karzai attempts to remove him.
The British Foreign Ministry issued a statement praising Mangal’s “leadership,” and claiming he was given no reason for his removal. He was replaced by Gen. Ebadi, a top member of the Afghan intelligence service.
I wonder why Karzai is so adamant about removing those who've developed a good working relationship with the invaders – who, btw, installed Karzai in the first place. Doesn't make sense…there's got to be more to the story….and the excuse that Karzai wishes to "…crackdown on nepotism and corruption…" well, that dog don't hunt.
And when it comes to corruption, no one does it as well as Karzai so he should know.