Irish ‘spy’ expelled from Afghanistan

A DIPLOMAT paid €10,000 a month from the Irish Aid budget last night denied he was expelled from Afghanistan for being a spy.

Fine Gael demanded an explanation for why Michael Semple’s EU post was funded by money earmarked for Third World development projects.

Mr Semple was ordered to leave the war-ravaged country in December after being accused by Kabul of making contact with anti-government groups.

Mr Semple insists his role as deputy head of the EU mission to Afghanistan was legitimate: “I am not a spy and never have been a spy. I have had to chuckle at some of the Lawrence of Arabia descriptions.

“There is a handful of us who speak the local languages. Unfortunately, most of the officials sent by our countries don’t have these languages so it falls to me and the people like me to talk in parts of Afghanistan which are important but where people do not speak English,” he told RTÉ.

Fine Gael foreign affairs spokesperson Billy Timmins warned tighter monitoring of how the aid budget is spent was needed.

“Such payments do not appear to be in keeping with the spirit in which one expects the Irish Aid budget to be spent.

“Over the past few months, Fine Gael has been seeking to establish if proper controls are in place to monitor our aid funding. With €900m due to be expended on aid this year it is imperative all such funding should be spent on valid aid projects and not used on operations not related to aid,” Mr Timmins said.

A foreign affairs department note on the expulsion obtained by RTÉ states Mr Semple was a “fall guy”.

“I would be reluctant to give the impression by coming to an immediate negative decision that we are placing on him the principle blame for a complex situation in which he seems to have been something of a fall guy,” an official wrote.

Irish funding for Mr Semple was withdrawn after his expulsion as the Government said the money could only be used in Afghanistan.

Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern said he regretted the action taken by the Afghans and that Mr Semple did “exemplary work”.

“Mr Semple has unequivocally stated the national government of Afghanistan, including President Karzai, was kept fully informed of his work. Indeed Mr Semple had assisted the Afghan government in developing plans for similar national schemes.

“We are satisfied there was no error of judgement on the part of Mr Semple,” a spokesperson for the Foreign Minister said.

Mr Semple is currently working for the EU in Pakistan.