British Brought in Taliban Impostor: Karzai Aide

UK intelligence paid fake senior insurgent
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 26, 2010 9:11 AM CST
British Brought in Taliban Impostor: Karzai Aide
Afghan President Hamid Karzai, during a press conference in Kabul, Afghanistan on Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2010.   (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)

British officials are at fault for bringing a Taliban impostor to Afghanistan’s presidential palace to meet Hamid Karzai, the president’s chief of staff tells the Washington Post. An Afghan at the meeting knew the man wasn’t top Taliban figure Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour; foreigners shouldn’t be dealing with the militants, he added, noting that Afghan intelligence discovered the impostor was a Pakistani shopkeeper.

“This shows that this process should be Afghan-led and fully Afghanized,” said Mohammad Umer Daudzai. “Afghans know this business, how to handle it.” British intelligence agents reportedly paid the impostor, according to the Times of London. Reuters reports that the Times found that "the British were convinced of the man's bona fides and flew 'Mansour' from Quetta to Kabul on a British C130 transport aircraft on a number of occasions."
(More Afghanistan stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X