Kurd suspected of Afghan president bomb plot

The arrest of an Iraqi Kurd accused of plotting to assassinate the Afghan president and the defence minister shows the war on terror is not over, a senior Afghan intelligence chief said today.

Amrullah Saleh, a top official at the National Security Directorate, showed reporters a camouflage vest and five packets of C-4 explosives wrapped in tape that were allegedly found on 22-year-old Akram Taufiq Muramy, who was arrested by intelligence agents in Kabul on Friday.

The arrest “clearly demonstrates that ... the terrorists who we fight together with the international community have the time, resources, expertise and networks for such operations,” Saleh said. “It means that the fight against terror is yet to be over.”

Afghan authorities were not sure if Muramy was working with al Qaida, but they had proof that he was linked to several Taliban leaders hiding in Pakistan and had been “working with Pakistani extremist groups”, Saleh said.

Saleh declined to say what that proof was, but said Muramy had been under surveillance and had been moving around Afghanistan under an alias. Before that, Muramy had been in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, but it was unclear why, Saleh said.

According to Saleh, Muramy confessed his initial plan was to kill President Hamid Karzai as his motorcade returned from the airport following a recent trip to New York.

But Muramy – who reportedly speaks fluent Farsi and Arabic – crossed into Afghanistan from Pakistan too late, and changed his target to Defence Minister Mohammad Fahim, Saleh said.

When he was arrested, he was casing the street in front of Fahim’s house in Wazir Akbar khan and had followed the minister’s movements around Kabul, including a mosque Fahim frequently attended for prayers.

Saleh said Muramy claimed to be an ethnic Kurd. Some Kurds were believed to have joined al Qaida. The Kurds form a minority in Iran, Turkey and Iraq, where US forces are hoping for their support in the event that war breaks out.

Saleh said the last time Afghan intelligence foiled such an attempt in Kabul was in July, when security forces intercepted a would-be car bomber driving a car packed with a half-ton of explosives in the heart of the city.

Saleh said authorities had ended that investigation and were studying the possibility of extraditing the man – who was from Uzbekistan – home.

Muramy’s fate would be up to the Afghan judiciary, Saleh said.

Karzai was the target of a September 5 assassination attempt, prompting him to replace his Afghan bodyguards with US special forces. Security forces from the US State Department now protect Karzai round the clock.

Fahim, who is among the most powerful figures in Afghanistan, commanded northern alliance forces that drove the Taliban from power last year behind a massive US bombing campaign.

The beleaguered Afghan capital has been on edge since a September 5 car bomb killed 30 people and wounded more than 150 others. There have been half-a-dozen smaller explosions since August, but they have caused little damage.