Afghanistan News November 23, 2005

November 23, 2005

Kidnapped Indian engineer found beheaded in Afghanistan
Wednesday November 23, 5:46 PM
(Kyodo) _ The beheaded body of an Indian man kidnapped last weekend by Taliban militants was found Wednesday by local police in southern Afghanistan, an Afghan official said.
"We have found a beheaded body, which seems to be of the kidnapped Indian," Mohammad Hashim, chief of police in Khashrod District of Nimroz Province, told Kyodo News by telephone.

He spoke a day after Taliban spokesman announced the execution of Maniappan Raman Kutty, who worked for an Indian road construction company in that province where he was abducted from his car along with his two guards and a driver on Saturday.

In New Delhi, the Indian External Affairs Ministry confirmed Kutty's death and said, "We strongly condemn this inhuman and barbaric act against an innocent person."

"The government of India expresses deep shock and profound grief at the tragic death of one of its citizens who was working on an India-Afghan friendship project with utmost devotion and diligence," a statement from the ministry said.

"The Taliban and its backers bear the responsibility for the consequences of this outrageous act," it said. ADVERTISEMENT

Kutty, a native of Allepey town in the southern Indian state of Kerala, was a driver with the Indian Army-affiliated Border Roads Organization, which carries out road construction projects in border areas of India. He was involved with the construction of a highway project in Afghanistan.

On Saturday, the Taliban had set a 48-hour deadline for the BRO to pull out of Afghanistan, and on Tuesday evening, a Taliban spokesman told the Afghan Islamic Press that Kutty was killed after the deadline expired at 6 p.m.

The fate of the three Afghans kidnapped with him was still unknown, the district's police chief said.

In all, about 290 Indians are engaged in various projects in Afghanistan, with the bulk of them being BRO personnel working on the Delaram-Herat-Kandahar highway seeking to link Iran's Makran coast with Afghan heartland, according to the Press Trust of India.

The abduction was the latest in a string of kidnappings in southern Afghanistan. A British engineer working on a road project and two Japanese tourists were kidnapped and killed in August.

Three rockets hit Afghanistan's capital
KABUL, Nov 22 (AFP) - Unknown militants fired three rockets over an impoverished neighborhood in the Afghan capital Kabul early Tuesday, but the attack did not cause any casualties, a government official said.

A house was partially destroyed in the attack, the first in Kabul since twin suicide car blasts against NATO-led peacekeepers last week killed seven people including a German soldier, interior ministry spokesman Yousuf Stanizai said.

"Three rockets were fired but none caused any casualties," he said.

He did not blame any particular group for the attack but similar ones in the past have been pinned on remnants of the ousted Taliban regime, who are fighting the US-backed administration of President Hamid Karzai.

A US-led force which toppled the hardline Taliban in late 2001 is based in southern and eastern Afghanistan to hunt down the militants.

The fighting has killed nearly 1,500 people -- including Afghan and foreign troops, civilians, aid workers and many militants -- this year, the deadliest year for such violence since the Taliban were removed.

US soldier, Afghan killed by roadside bomb
Tue Nov 22,11:55 PM ET
KABUL (Reuters) - A U.S. soldier and an Afghan interpreter were killed when a roadside bomb hit their armored vehicle in Afghanistan in the latest spate of violence involving Taliban guerrillas.

The two were in a convoy re-supplying U.S.-led forces during an operation against militants in the central province of Uruzgan when the incident happened on Tuesday, the U.S. military said in a statement.

The death of the soldier brings the number of U.S. casualties in Afghanistan this year as a result of hostile action to nearly 60, the bloodiest period since U.S.-led forces overthrew the Taliban government in late 2001.

Taliban guerrillas have launched a string of attacks, including suicide blasts, in southern and eastern areas in recent weeks after failing to disrupt legislative elections in September.

A Taliban spokesman said on Wednesday fighters had dumped the body of a kidnapped Indian hostage on a dirt road in the south of the country.

The spokesman, Qari Mohammad Yousuf, said on Tuesday the Indian engineer working on a road project had been killed after a deadline for his company to announce its withdrawal from Afghanistan had passed.

The body of the Indian, P.M. Kutty, had been left on a road between Zaranj, the provincial capital of Nimroz province, and an area called Ghor Ghori, Yousuf said.

Afghan and Indian officials have not confirmed or denied the Taliban report they killed the man.

Kutty was abducted from his car in Nimroz on Saturday along with his Afghan driver and two guards.

The Taliban freed the driver but a Taliban council had still to decide on the fate of the guards, Yousuf said.

India has good relations with Afghanistan and hundreds of Indians are working on Afghan reconstruction projects.

The Taliban have in the past kidnapped several Turkish and Indian engineers involved in road construction projects.

Two Indians kidnapped by suspected Taliban members while working on a U.S.-funded road project in late 2003 were released unharmed after nearly three weeks in captivity.

A Turkish national was killed but several others were freed, apparently after ransoms were paid.

In September, Taliban guerrillas abducted and killed a Briton involved in a road project in Farah province in the west.

Abducted Afghan driver set free
BBC News Tuesday, 22 November 2005
An Afghan driver, who was kidnapped along with an Indian in the southern Afghan province of Nimroz, has been released, the authorities say.

Taleban insurgents say they abducted the Indian along with three Afghans last week.

Afghan officials say efforts are continuing to secure the release of the Indian driver.

This year has seen an upsurge in violence linked to militants, with more than 1,400 people killed.

Presidential spokesman Jawed Ludin told the BBC news website that officials were questioning the released Afghan driver.

Mr Ludin said the Afghan authorities were trying to trace the Indian, M Raman Kutty, a driver with India's state-run Border Roads Organisation.

"We are watching the situation closely. Efforts are going on to find the Indian national."

The Indian national was among some 300 Indians working on a road project in the province.

The Indian ambassador in Afghanistan, Rakesh Sood, had said that a number of Afghan and Iranian workers were also working on this $83m road project.

The Taleban have been responsible for a number of abductions of engineers, including several Turks and Indians, in southern Afghanistan.

One Turk was killed but the others were freed. A British engineer was abducted and killed in Farah province in September.

Two Indians working on a road in southern Zabul province were kidnapped in 2003 but released unharmed two weeks later.

Taleban insurgents are active in much of south and east Afghanistan.

The US-led coalition in the country has about 20,000 troops fighting the insurgents.

UN refugee chief in Afghanistan to discuss life of returnees
KABUL, Nov. 22 (Xinhuanet) -- High Commissioner of UN Agency for Refugees (UNHCR) Antonio Guterres has arrived in Afghanistan to discuss with Afghan president the life of returnees, according to country spokesman of the UN body.

"The High Commissioner has already met President Hamid Karzai and discussed the life of millions of returnees mainly from Pakistan and Iran, and would visit Jalalabad, the provincial capital of eastern Nangarhar province, tomorrow," Mohammad Nadir Farhad told Xinhua.

This is Guterres' first tour to Afghanistan since assuming office in June.

After his trip to Jalalabad, the high commissioner will hold a press conference to brief on his discussion with the president, Farhad said.

The UN chief for refugees will also tour Pakistan and Iran, where more than 3.5 million Afghans have been living as refugees over the past two decades.

Over 3.5 million refugees, according to officials, have returned home since the collapse of Taliban in late 2001, with the majority of whom living in misery as the government has yet to provide shelters to them. Enditem

Daily Afghan Report
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty [ 22 November 2005 ]
Indian Company Vows Not To Leave Afghanistan Despite Hostage Threat
Indian Border Roads Organization will not leave Afghanistan despite an ultimatum issued by the purported neo-Taliban hostage takers to kill an Indian national whom they abducted recently, Indian Ambassador Rakesh Sood told All India Radio in Kabul on 21 November. The Indian national, along with three Afghans working for the Indian government-owned construction company, was kidnapped in Nimroz Province in southern Afghanistan on 19 November; their abductors have threatened to kill their Indian hostage if his employer does not leave Afghanistan (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 21 November 2005). The neo-Taliban have not contacted Indian authorities, Sood added. Then on 22 November, Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Yousif Stanikzai announced that the Afghan driver abducted along with the other three men was released unharmed the previous day and was being questioned by local intelligence agents, RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan reported. Nimroz security officials mobilized 70 policemen to search for the kidnapped Indian citizen, Kabul's Tolu Television reported on 21 November. An official spokesperson of the Indian External Affairs Ministry in New Delhi on 21 November identified the kidnapped Indian national as Shri Maniappan Raman Kutty. The Indian government has identified Shri Kutty as a driver rather than an engineer, as was previously reported. AT

Afghan Leader Urges Media To Participate In 'Accountability Week'

President Hamid Karzai on 20 November urged the media to broadcast public complaints about his cabinet ministers during a one-week period dubbed "Accountability Week," which started on 19 November, Pajhwak Afghan News reported on 20 November. The period has been earmarked as a time during which all ministries are to discuss their performances publicly and respond to criticism. Karzai said that the media can help both the government and Afghan citizens to bring positive change in society. Karzai dismissed critics who have called the establishment of "Accountability Week" a symbolic move. He termed the move as an honest endeavor on the part of his government to give transparency to its actions. Meanwhile, representatives of several Afghan ministries, speaking at a news conference on 21 November, presented the media with reports of their work, Pajhwak reported. AT

Kabul Daily Sees Reconciliation As Best Way Forward

In an editorial published on 21 November, "Anis" wrote that reconciliation with the armed opposition is the only path toward peace in Afghanistan. Praising the existence of a "democratic government" in which all Afghans can participate without "any discrimination," the editorial expressed hope that the government will "open paths of reconciliation with its opponents in accordance with the principles of Islamic brotherhood." "Anis" argued that the government's reconciliation program should offer the opposition -- which the paper did not identity -- "an amnesty and the opportunity to participate in the government," and should try to "deliver a truly Islamic Republic of Afghanistan" to the "disgruntled brothers." The editorial urged "leaders of various Afghan tribes, Pakistani progressive and democratic parties," religious figures, and "impartial scholars" to assist the Afghan government in its ongoing reconciliation process. President Karzai recently reviewed the national-reconciliation programs aimed at offering amnesty to most members of the former Taliban regime, while Sebghatullah Mojaddedi, the head of the commission established to implement the reconciliation process, has blamed elements in Pakistan for assisting the Afghan insurgency (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 14 and 15 November 2005). AT

Western Afghan Governor Blames Police For Clash With Army

Herat Province Governor Sayyed Hosayn Anwari on 21 November blamed the Afghan National Police for a clash that occurred on 18 November between police and Afghan National Army forces in a park on the outskirts of Herat, Peshawar-based Afghan Islamic Press reported. "After an investigation, we found that the national army troops were not armed and the national military police fired on them," Anwari told reporters in Herat. One soldier was killed in the clash, the cause of which remains unclear. AT

Afghanistan`s foreign exchange reserve reaches 1.5 b US dollars
Pak Tribuine (Pakistan) Monday November 21, 2005 (2303 PST)
AFGHAINSTAN, November 22 (Online): The foreign exchange reserve of the post-war Afghanistan has reached 1.5 billion US dollars, a figure unregistered in the past, Vice President of the country`s central bank "Da Afghanistan Bank" said.

"Our foreign exchange reserve currently is 1.5 billion US dollars and the amount would boost further," Samiullah Ibrahimi said.

The country`s foreign exchange reserve, he added, was 300 million US dollars in 2002 while in 2003 it almost doubled and reached to 500 million US dollars.

"The country`s foreign exchange reserve in 2004 was recorded 1 billion US dollars and currently it is 1.5 billion US dollars," the official added.

Major portion of the said amount has been contributed by international community to help rebuild the war-torn central Asian state as the cash-stripped war-battered nation is largely depended on the donors` support.

Meantime, the war-shattered nation`s foreign debt is almost twice bigger than the country`s foreign exchange reserve.

"The country`s foreign debt is 2.5 billion US dollars with 1 billion US dollars from Russia," Minister for Economy Mohammad Amin Farhang confirmed.

Russia, the heir of former Soviet Union has been asking Kabul to repay the 1 billion US dollars provided to former regimes in Afghanistan while Afghan side disagreed with and said the amount was spent in military field to keep on Red Army`s presence in the country during the war between Soviet Union and Afghanistan.

Time to talk: US engages the Taliban
By Syed Saleem Shahzad Asia Times Online 11/22/05
KARACHI - Despite deposing the Taliban regime in Afghanistan in quick time at the end of 2001, the United States has not been able to rid the country of the Islamic hardliners, who four years later lead an Afghan resistance that shows no signs of abating, let alone buckling.

US efforts to combat the Taliban include outright military action (there are 18,000 US troops in the country, in addition to 12,000 members of North Atlantic Treaty Organization in the International Security Assistance Force), and attempts to embrace "good" Taliban.

And now, most significantly, come efforts to deal directly with the real "problem" - Taliban leader Mullah Omar, the only person with the ability to influence decisions of import related to the Taliban

and their future activities in the country.

Reports emerged in the Pakistani media at the weekend that the US had contacted the Taliban leadership with the aim of establishing a truce in Afghanistan. The reported linkman is a Pakistani, Javed Ibrahim Paracha, but he has denied the story, saying he had never met any US officials, only US businessmen.

There is more to this story, though, according to information acquired by Asia Times Online.

In fact, the latest peace initiative was started a few months ago when the US realized, finally, that it simply was not making significant progress in stabilizing Afghanistan, despite the relatively successful conclusion of presidential and parliamentary elections.

To date this year, about 90 US troops have been killed in the country, compared with the 186 who have died since the 2001 campaign began. Resistance attacks have become more frequent as well as more sophisticated.

The momentum for finding a strategy that will allow for an honorable exit is becoming irresistible.

Enter Mansoor Ijaz, a US citizen of Pakistani origin with close ties to the right wing of the Republican Party. In London, with the help of British authorities, he began the peace process.

Mansoor's point man in Pakistan is Khalid Khawaja, a former Pakistan Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) official who was a close friend of Osama bin Laden. Khawaja's associates included Paracha, a former member of the provincial assembly in North West Frontier Province and leader of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz group). His claim to fame is his advocacy for the families of al-Qaeda operators detained by Pakistani authorities.

One of the inducements put on the table for the Taliban leadership was their inclusion in the government of President Hamid Karzai, but Mullah Omar rejected this, saying there could not be any form of a deal until all foreign forces were pulled out of Afghanistan. Thus there was no possibility of the Taliban laying down their weapons.

"Actually, the media have jeopardized the peace initiative when it is still in its initial stages, though part of the news is correct, that yes, there is a discourse between the Taliban and the US, but it is wrong that any US officials met Javed Ibrahim Paracha," Khalid Khawaja told Asia Times Online.

Asia Times Online sources in the Afghan resistance across the border from Pakistan confirm that there has been recent contact between Karzai and the Taliban leadership. This took place through a go-between. Karzai, according to the contacts, sought support for himself and agreed that any cooperation with the Taliban would hinge on one single point - the evacuation of foreign troops.

The contact was confirmed at a time the Afghan parliamentary results confirmed that members of the former Taliban regime and former mujahideen leaders had won seats in parliament with heavy mandates.

The general perception is that these new parliamentarians are split into small political groups, and will therefore not be able to make much of an impression.

However, most of the Taliban warlords who won in the elections are still in contact with the Taliban leadership, and so are the members of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hizb-i-Islami, whose leadership sits quietly in Peshawar, Pakistan. Veteran warlord Hekmatyar is still active in the Afghan resistance.

Far from being splintered, these new parliamentarians are believed to be in a decisive position, and they are taking guidance from their Taliban or Hizb leaders.

For instance, once Mullah Omar received Karzai's communication agreeing that the withdrawal of foreign troops was the minimum starting point for any negotiations, Mullah Omar called a shora (council) and then sent messages to all former Taliban members in parliament to support Karzai.

Taliban unbowed

As the might of the US military descended on Kabul in late 2001, the Taliban simply retreated, apart from sporadic opposition. In that sense they were never defeated. It took them some time to regroup, but they have done that.

The reasons are rooted in Afghan society. From the very beginning, the Taliban movement was inextricably linked to tribal bonds, especially as the Taliban brand of Islam dovetails with Pakhtoon Wali (Afghan tribal values). Tribes are the ultimate social order in Afghanistan, and nobody will ever wash that away.

Washington never truly came to grips with this. They undertook decisions based on universal wisdom and common sense to isolate the Taliban, but failed to comprehend that this lonely planet called Afghanistan has its own dynamics. As a result, step after step to isolate the Taliban simply complicated the situation.

In mid-2003, the US agreed on a "good Taliban" policy (see Asia Times Online, US turns to the Taliban, Jun 14). Negotiations failed immediately as the Taliban refused to remove Mullah Omar as their head.

The US invested a lot of time and effort in cultivating groups, some of which cooperated, but invariably they drifted back to the Taliban camp.

For example, the Jamiat-i-Khudamul Furqan (or Koran) was a breakaway faction carved out in Peshawar by the ISI and US intelligence. Within a couple of years it secretly joined the Taliban again.

Similarly, the Jaishul Muslim was formed by the US in Peshawar to infiltrate the Taliban and stage a coup against Mullah Omar. Once they were effectively launched in Afghanistan with money and weapons, a segment of the group promptly pledged allegiance to Mullah Omar and is now fighting alongside the Taliban resistance.

Tribal bonds and allegiances run too deep. This is the reality, as obvious as the sand in the broad light of day in the desert. Anything hinting at a Taliban demise is a mirage.

The administrations in Washington and Kabul at last appear to have come to terms with this.

Engineer charged with gun running
BBC News Monday, 21 November 2005
A west Wales electrical engineer being held in prison in Afghanistan, has been charged with gun-running.

The Foreign Office confirmed Peter Eaton, 52, from Hakin near Milford Haven, faces a trial within 60 days.

He has been in prison in the Afghan capital Kabul since his arrest last month.

The Foreign Office said he was one of four men, including another UK national, charged with buying and selling weapons.

He said no date had yet been fixed for the trial.

The British ambassador met with the attorney general in Afghanistan last week at the request of Mr Eaton's family.

'Very stressed'

A spokesman said: "We visited Peter Eaton that day to keep him abreast of all developments. At the moment. the case is being looked at by a judge and he will stand trial within 60 days from the time he was charged."

He said he would not "speculate" on the length or severity of sentence Mr Eaton faced if found guilty.

In an interview earlier this month, Mr Eaton's wife, Anisa Ahmed, told BBC Radio Wales that her husband's health was deteriorating.

"He's in a very difficult position, he's very stressed, his health is going really bad. He is not very well at all," she said.

"Peter is not involved in any weapons or anything like that."

Uzbekistan Ends U.S. Use of Airbase Aiding Afghanistan Mission
Nov. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Uzbekistan closed an airbase used by the U.S. military to support operations in Afghanistan after relations deteriorated over the Uzbek government's use of force to control an uprising in May.

A C-17 transport aircraft carrying 90 U.S. military personnel left Uzbekistan shortly after a flag-lowering ceremony yesterday at the Karshi-Khanabad airbase in the south of the country, Lieutenant Commander Joe Carpenter, a U.S. Defense Department spokesman, said late yesterday in Washington.

President Islam Karimov's government in July ordered U.S. forces to leave the base after the U.S. led international calls for an investigation into the uprising in the eastern city of Andijan. The Uzbek government said 187 people were killed when the uprising was put down. Human rights groups said several hundred people, most of them civilians, may have died.

Uzbekistan, a landlocked nation of 26 million people, was the first central Asian country to allow the U.S. to use a military base in the anti-terrorism war that began in 2001. The U.S. has bases in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan supporting military operations in Afghanistan.

The U.S. deployed about 1,000 military personnel at Karshi- Khanabad, many helping with humanitarian operations to support the government of President Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan. The base also served as a refueling point for transport aircraft.

Uzbekistan, a former Soviet republic, slightly larger than the U.S. state of California, is the world's second-biggest exporter of cotton and an oil and gold producer. It shares 137 kilometers (85 miles) of its southern border with Afghanistan.

Revolt Leaders

The U.S. government last week condemned as unfair the convictions and jail sentences of 15 alleged leaders of the revolt in Andijan and renewed calls for an independent inquiry.

The European Union, at the same time, banned arms sales and travel to EU countries by 12 Uzbek officials, including Interior Minister Zakirjan Almatov and Defense Minister Kadir Gulamov, citing ``excessive, disproportionate and indiscriminate use of force'' when the revolt was put down.

Uzbekistan's Supreme Court on Nov. 19 said the U.S. and EU statements and actions were unfounded and biased, Russia's Interfax news agency reported from the capital, Tashkent.

``Statements by the U.S. and EU give grounds for Uzbekistan to feel concern about them as ardent opponents of terrorism,'' the Supreme Court said in its statement, according to Interfax.

The Uzbek government blamed Islamic extremists for the violence in Andijan. The fighting began after armed men protesting a trial of Islamic extremists broke into a jail and freed prisoners.

Clamping Down

A clampdown followed as police and soldiers in Andijan and nearby towns fired on protesters, most of them civilians opposed to Karimov's government. Karimov has led the country since 1991.

Karimov last week signed a defense treaty with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The accord grants each country the right to use military sites located on their territories ``should it prove necessary,'' Interfax reported at the time, citing a clause in the treaty it obtained.

The U.S. has increasingly faulted the human rights practices of the Karimov government.

The U.S. withheld $10.5 million in aid, including $6.87 million in military aid, in the fiscal year 2004 because the State Department couldn't certify that Uzbekistan was moving toward multiparty democracy.

As much as $22 million, including $11.7 million in military aid, is in danger of being withheld this year for the same reason, department spokeswoman Joanne Moore said in June. The country received $87.4 million in aid from the U.S. in 2003, according to U.S. government data.

Monitors on the Take
Sunday, November 20, 2005; The Washington Post A20
A fghans complain that corruption is woven into reconstruction efforts. Even monitors hired to ensure that U.S. taxpayers are not ripped off can become part of the problem.

The primary U.S. contractor for schools and clinics, Louis Berger Group Inc., subcontracted work on 28 buildings to the Reconstruction Development Association in Kabul. Berger hired CHF International, a global nonprofit relief agency based in Silver Spring, to visit construction sites and regularly file progress reports.

In late 2003, after a CHF monitor asked for money in exchange for positive reports, an association engineer rigged a camera behind a potted plant at his office. On the resulting video, obtained by The Washington Post, an engineer named Faisel shuffles into a room along with three unidentified men from the monitoring program. As they ease into rattan chairs, one adjusts his flowing blue tunic and fingers a string of prayer beads. A voice intones: "We will agree, God willing."

Faisel: Engineer Ghullam Mohammad is asking for $50,000?

Voice 2: Yes.

Faisel: Please ask yourself, does this kind of project earn $50,000 for us to pay you $50,000?

Voice 2: ... We don't want the money from you but from the project.

Faisel: ... You want some sweets [" shirnee ," Afghan slang for a bribe], we will give you sweets. If you say that you want some of it that we earn, that's also okay. Please don't be cruel. . . . Another point ... if we give you 50,000, how are we going to do the work?

Voice 2: As you like, sir. You can work as you wish.

Faisel: How is my wish? If I say to make the foundation 20 centimeters instead of 150 centimeters, would you allow me?

Voice 2: Yes, we have done the same thing in the same area.

Voice 3: We have already agreed to this point.

Voice 2: We did this two times yesterday.

* * * Faisel: Still, swear to Allah, it is too much money you're asking for. I don't have that much money, believe me.

Voice 3: No, it's not that much money.

Faisel: Please be fair this time. They have promised more projects to me. I will take care of you then.

Voice 3: We ask this amount because that is your first project. If you get more projects and we are in charge, we will help you.... Based on our report, you might get more projects. We will be witness that [a competing company] doesn't get any more projects. Only [a second company that paid the monitors] and you will receive positive reports from us.

Faisel: Tell me the truth, how much has [the second company] paid?

Voice 3: The same amount as you. [The monitor shakes Faisel's hand to affirm that he is telling the truth.]

Faisel: $50,000? For how many projects?

Voice 3: For four projects.

* * *
Faisel: I will tell you one thing -- I give you 7,000 each for five projects. That's it and don't talk about it anymore. For five projects, I will give you $7,000 each for a total of 35,000.

Voice 3: ... Make this 40,000.

Faisel: For all five projects?

Voice 3: No, no. For four projects.

Voice 2: The value of this project is 15,000, but the honorable engineer brought the price down to 10,000. Give us 10,000 per project, Allah is Great, end of discussion.

* * *
Faisel: They will transfer money tomorrow to our account. The day after tomorrow you will get your money.

Association head Zaid Haidary screened the video for CHF, which fired the monitors. CHF officials said they appreciated Haidary's efforts.

But Haidary has received no more business and is bitter that CHF later won a $14 million agreement to build schools and clinics.

"I got hurt," Haidary said in an interview in Washington. "I made enemies because everybody looked bad. Louis Berger Group looked bad, USAID looked bad.

"After all that, we were punished because we didn't pay the bribe."