KABUL, July 16: Al Qaeda could have been behind the assassination of Afghan Vice-President Haji Abdul Qadir, the head of a ministerial commission into the killing said on Tuesday.
Qadir’s fellow Vice-President Karim Khalili told reporters that the investigation, which is being run in conjunction with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), had made good progress and 15 people were currently in custody.
Defence Minister Mohammad Qasim Fahim and Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah have already pointed the finger at “terrorists” for the killing of the powerful ethnic Pakhtoon whose brother, Abdul Haq, was himself executed by the Taliban in October.
“We cannot reject the role of Al Qaeda in this incident,” said Khalili.
“We must not forget that we are still in a fight against terrorism and the war against terrorism has not been completed.”
Khalili was reluctant to speculate about the motive for the killing on July 6 when Qadir was shot at close range as he was being driven away from his ministerial offices in Kabul.
But he pledged that the killers would definitely be brought to justice even though the people behind the murder of civil aviation minister Abdul Rahman in February still remain at large.
“I would like to assure you that... all the culprits will be clear to all the people around the world,” said Khalili.
“I can assure you that we will arrest whoever has committed this crime and we will never forget it.
“The government, the police and the commission are all working very hard on this case.
“Up to now we have achieved some good results and we are still working. When we are 100 per cent sure who is responsible then we will announce their names. Right now it is too soon to say anything further about that.”—AFP
