source: Wall Street Journal
Afghan President Hamid Karzai, here in Brussels last week, Monday confirmed that his government has been receiving CIA money for a decade, but dismissed it as a 'small amount.'
Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Monday acknowledged that his office has been receiving money from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency over the past 10 years, dismissing the monthly cash payments as a "small amount."
Mr. Karzai addressed the issue after the New York Times reported on Sunday that the CIA has made tens of millions of dollars in secret payments, often cash packed in shopping bags, as it sought to maintain influence over Afghanistan's mercurial leader.
"Yes, the office of the national security has been receiving support from the United States for the past 10 years," Mr. Karzai told reporters at a news briefing in Helsinki, Finland, responding to a question about whether he has received CIA cash. "Monthly. Not a big amount. A small amount which has been used for various purposes."
The CIA declined to comment on the matter.
Mr. Karzai, who is touring Northern Europe, made the remarks following his meeting with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto.
The U.S. isn't the only country to supply the Afghan presidential palace with secret money. In 2010, Mr. Karzai acknowledged receiving bags full of euros from the government of Iran.
Afghan officials have said that these secret funds have been used by the president to reward supporters and buy loyalty from tribal leaders.
In Helsinki, Mr. Karzai said that the CIA money is being spent on "various purposes, operational purposes of providing assistance to the wounded, the sick, to certain rents for houses, to all other purposes."
These payments represent a tiny fraction of the total U.S. commitment to Afghanistan. The U.S. has spent hundreds of billions of dollars on the Afghan war, America's longest foreign conflict, since ousting the Taliban regime in late 2001.
The CIA maintains a large presence in Afghanistan, working closely with the Afghan intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security.
The CIA also has a long history with Mr. Karzai: His life was saved by a CIA operative code-named "Spider," who leapt on the Afghan leader to shield him from shrapnel when the U.S. mistakenly bombed a gathering of tribal leaders in the southern part of Afghanistan in December 2001.
"Spider" later served twice as the agency's station chief in Kabul, maintaining a close working relationship with Mr. Karzai.
According to U.S. officials, Mr. Karzai was also instrumental in setting up clandestine CIA-run paramilitary units, such as the Kandahar Strike Force, that hunted down the Taliban after the U.S. invasion in 2001.
The president's late brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, the former Kandahar provincial council chief, was named by people familiar with the matter as being on the agency's payroll.
In recent months, however, Mr. Karzai has moved to curb the actions of the CIA and its paramilitary forces, publicly demanding the release of a Kandahar student detained by the Kandahar Strike Force in March and trying to assert government control over these units.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai, here in Brussels last week, Monday confirmed that his government has been receiving CIA money for a decade, but dismissed it as a 'small amount.'
Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Monday acknowledged that his office has been receiving money from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency over the past 10 years, dismissing the monthly cash payments as a "small amount."
Mr. Karzai addressed the issue after the New York Times reported on Sunday that the CIA has made tens of millions of dollars in secret payments, often cash packed in shopping bags, as it sought to maintain influence over Afghanistan's mercurial leader.
"Yes, the office of the national security has been receiving support from the United States for the past 10 years," Mr. Karzai told reporters at a news briefing in Helsinki, Finland, responding to a question about whether he has received CIA cash. "Monthly. Not a big amount. A small amount which has been used for various purposes."
The CIA declined to comment on the matter.
Mr. Karzai, who is touring Northern Europe, made the remarks following his meeting with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto.
The U.S. isn't the only country to supply the Afghan presidential palace with secret money. In 2010, Mr. Karzai acknowledged receiving bags full of euros from the government of Iran.
Afghan officials have said that these secret funds have been used by the president to reward supporters and buy loyalty from tribal leaders.
In Helsinki, Mr. Karzai said that the CIA money is being spent on "various purposes, operational purposes of providing assistance to the wounded, the sick, to certain rents for houses, to all other purposes."
These payments represent a tiny fraction of the total U.S. commitment to Afghanistan. The U.S. has spent hundreds of billions of dollars on the Afghan war, America's longest foreign conflict, since ousting the Taliban regime in late 2001.
The CIA maintains a large presence in Afghanistan, working closely with the Afghan intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security.
The CIA also has a long history with Mr. Karzai: His life was saved by a CIA operative code-named "Spider," who leapt on the Afghan leader to shield him from shrapnel when the U.S. mistakenly bombed a gathering of tribal leaders in the southern part of Afghanistan in December 2001.
"Spider" later served twice as the agency's station chief in Kabul, maintaining a close working relationship with Mr. Karzai.
According to U.S. officials, Mr. Karzai was also instrumental in setting up clandestine CIA-run paramilitary units, such as the Kandahar Strike Force, that hunted down the Taliban after the U.S. invasion in 2001.
The president's late brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, the former Kandahar provincial council chief, was named by people familiar with the matter as being on the agency's payroll.
In recent months, however, Mr. Karzai has moved to curb the actions of the CIA and its paramilitary forces, publicly demanding the release of a Kandahar student detained by the Kandahar Strike Force in March and trying to assert government control over these units.
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