Wednesday, September 30, 2009

U.N official in Afghanistan fired for anti-fraud



Former American diplomat Peter Gailbraith ended his tenure as Deputy Special Representative of the U.N's mission to Afghanistan after clashing with his boss, Kai Eide, over the presidential elections.

Gailbraith had railed against the corruption of the Karzai administration for some time, and warned of ballot fraud before the election. After the election, Gailbraith,

...Had pressed aggressively for an exhaustive probe, arguing that Karzai's election had been tainted by fraud, according to diplomatic sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity. They said that Eide argued that the international community should not press too hard for an investigation because it could undermine Afghanistan's national stability.

You have to love Eide's commitment to national stability- what could bring greater stability to Afghanistan than a blatantly fraudulent election? Interestingly, today the U.N is also in the headlines for encouraging the Karzai government to reach out to the Taliban for peace talks. Eide noted, "There has to be some kind of peace process," he said. "That process has to include not only Taliban representatives on the ground, but also the Taliban superstructure."

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