Karzai Confirms Getting Some Funds From CIA

April 29, 2013

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has confirmed his office received money from the CIA after a report in the New York Times said the U.S. intelligence agency delivered tens of millions of dollars in cash to him in suitcases, backpacks, and plastic shopping bags over the past decade.

Karzai said on April 29 that Afghanistan’s National Security Council "received money from the CIA in the past 10 years."

The statement said the amount "was not big, rather it was small," and that the funds were spent for "operation objectives, helping wounded and sick [people],” and other good causes.

Karzai called the assistance “very productive.”

The New York Times quoted unnamed U.S. officials as saying that the money was meant to buy the CIA influence but instead fuelled corruption and empowered warlords, thereby undermining Washington’s exit strategy from Afghanistan.

Based on reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, and "The New York Times"

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/afghanistan-karzai-confirms-cia-funds/24971981.html

Copyright (c) 2013. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.