THURSDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2010 Attack on oil tanker in Afghanistan


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The World A13


Iran secretly trying to establish banks in Muslim nations Move shows that


sanctions are working, U.S. officials say


BY GLENN KESSLER Iran is secretly trying to set up


banks in Muslim countries around the world, including Iraq and Malaysia, using dummy names and opaque ownership structures to skirt sanctions that have increasingly curtailed the Islamic republic’s global banking activities,U.S. officials say. The Treasury Department has


blacklisted 16 Iranian banks for allegedly supporting Iran’s nucle- ar program and terrorist activi- ties; other countries have fol- lowed suit with their own mea- sures. Tehran’s search for new banking avenues is a sign of the growing effectiveness of the sanc- tions,U.S. officials said. Still, they think that Iran has


RAHMAT GUL/ASSOCIATED PRESS


As a police officer stands guard and a crowd watches from a distance, a firefighter hoses down the flames after an oil tanker traveling along Afghanistan’s Jalalabad-Torkham highway, east of Kabul, was destroyed by an explosive device planted beneath it.


Afghan commission rejects quarter of parliamentary votes, citing fraud


Election inquiry finds hundreds of candidates were perpetrators


BY JOSHUA PARTLOW


kabul — Afghanistan’s election commission threwout 1.3million fraudulent votes from last month’s parliamentary elections, about a quarter of all ballots cast and roughly the same share as invalidatedinlast year’spresiden- tial election, election officials said Wednesday. In announcing the preliminary


election results, the chairman of the Independent Election Com- missionsaidthat 5.6millionvotes werecastbutonly4.3millionwere deemed valid after about amonth of investigating the results with audits and recounts. Fazil Ahmad Manawi, the commission’s chair- man, said 224 parliamentary can-


didates, as well as an unspecified number of election officials, have been accused of fraud; their cases will be investigated by a separate complaints commission. Despite the widespread irregu-


larities,ManawiandotherAfghan election officials described the election as a success, given that it was held amid a growing Taliban insurgency that made it difficult formany voters to reach the polls. Abdullah Ahmadzai, another


member of the election panel, said he considered the vote suc- cessful because the commission this year had better mechanisms inplace to detect the fraud. Last year’s Afghan presidential


election degenerated into a politi- cal crisis as President Hamid Karzai resisted the notion that he had lost his first-round majority because of widespread fraud. Karzai eventually prevailed when his opponent pulled out of a run- off vote. Some parliamentary candi- dates onWednesday criticized the


process of invalidating votes, say- ing they thought the discarded ballot boxes took votes away from more than just the candidates who perpetrated fraud. “In the process that took place,


they employed nonprofessional people from the [Independent Election Commission],” saidNad- er Khan Katawazai, a parliament member and candidate fromPak- tika province in eastern Afghani- stan. “They invalidated the votes, even though several candidates were inthose boxes.” Katawazai said he expected


that the continued high level of fraud would ensure that the rich and powerful prevailed at the bal- lot. “Theupcomingparliamentwill


be the parliament of warlords, and the people who have power, and the people who are corrupt,” he said. Other parliament members


said they were having trouble ac- cessing the election commission’s Websitetoreviewthepreliminary


results. Mir Ahmad Joyenda, a parlia-


ment member from Kabul, said that because the parliamentary electionswere a lower priority for foreigners than last year’s presi- dential vote, therewas less scruti- ny of the process. “The fraud ismuchhigher than


the presidential election,” Joyen- dasaid. “I thinkmoreof thefunda- mentalist groups and the people who had money, they have been elected.There isnoroomfor intel- lectuals and democrats.” partlowj@washpost.com


Special correspondent Javed Hamdard inKabul contributed to this report.


6


on washingtonpost.com Inquiry in Afghanistan


For photos of fraudulent- vote controversy, go to washingtonpost.com/world.


Making effort toward peacewith Taliban


Afghan government is pushing for talks with insurgents


BY SCOTTWILSON


AND KAREN DEYOUNG Senior administration officials


briefed President Obama on Wednesday about the Afghan government’s accelerating push for peace with the Taliban, as several streams of potential nego- tiations emerged. In addition to discussions in


and around Kabul being facilitat- ed by coalition forces, a Taliban delegation traveled to Saudi Ara- bia early this month to seek Saudi sponsorship of talks with the Afghan government, sources said. Taliban representatives also sought to hold a meeting near Kandahar, which is in the Taliban heartland of southern Afghani- stan and close to the Pakistani city of Quetta, where the Afghan Taliban leadership is located. After concluding a 90-minute


session on Afghanistan and Paki- stan with his war cabinet in the White House Situation Room, Obama met with a delegation of senior Pakistani officials who are inWashington for talks about the future scope of U.S-Pakistan rela- tions, a partnership whose strength is essential to the suc- cess of the Afghan war. The administration plans this


week to announce an increase in military aid to Pakistan, even as NATO and Afghan officials have urged its military to take more aggressive action against insur- gent safe havens and accused Pakistan’s intelligence service of hindering the nascent talks be- tween theTaliban and the Afghan government of President Hamid Karzai. The White House issued a statement after the meeting say-


ing that Obama will not visit Pakistan during his trip toAsia in November, which includes an ex- tended stop in India, Pakistan’s arch rival. Instead, it committed Obama to travel to Pakistan next year and said he would welcome Pakistani President Asif Ali Zard- ari toWashington. Senior administration officials concluded in last fall’s Afghan strategy review that the Taliban could not be defeated as a politi- cal movement, only weakened as a military force. Since then, they have emphasized that the war will have a “political” end, and Karzai has moved to solidify dis- cussions withTaliban figures that have continued sporadically for the past several years.


‘Wary’ of credentials Although earlier discussions


foundered because of govern- ment uncertainty about the sta- tus of individual Taliban repre- sentatives within the insurgency, more recent encounters have been depicted as including high- levelTalibanmembers,even if the talks remain preliminary, accord- ing to Afghan, Arab and U.S. sources, who spoke on the condi- tion of anonymity. “U.S. intelligence is wary of


who some of these commanders are and whether they have the ability to actually influence the course of the conflict,” a senior congressional aide said of admin- istration briefingsonCapitolHill. “Some of these contacts will not come to mean much. But others might.” Intelligence officials have long


depicted the insurgency as a “syn- dicate” of various Pakistan-based groups, including the Quetta Shura and the Haqqani network, that closely coordinate their ac- tivities. But Afghan sources said they increasingly see divisions within those groups, particularly the Quetta Shura. An administration official fa-


miliar with the meetings said on Wednesday that “there is no evi-


dence” that Karzai is talking to officials “at the highest levels” of the Haqqani network — which theUnited States views as unlike- ly to reconcile and as particularly close to the Pakistani intelligence service — or with with Taliban leaderMohammadOmar. But the official said the administration is not vetting people withwhomthe Afghan government is speaking. “We have not looked at individ-


ual Taliban and said, ‘This person cannot fit into the standards that have been set out,’ ” the official said. “Fromour perspective, if it is the case that the Afghans think there are Taliban out there they can reconcile with, that’s forthem to work out.” At the National Security Coun-


cil meeting last month, Obama asked for a detailed assessment of the political track, which is tak- ing place alongside sharply esca- lating military action against the insurgents on the ground in Af- ghanistan. Over the past several weeks, the administration public- ly blessed Karzai’s initiative, and senior officials confirmed the talks. U.S. and other coalition military commanders on the ground have ensured the safe passage of Taliban leaders for discussions in and around Kabul.


Saudis reply


Gen.David H. Petraeus, the top coalition military commander in Afghanistan, said last week that “several very senior Taliban lead- ers . . . have reached out to the Afghan government at the high- est levels, and also in some cases have reached out to other coun- tries involved in Afghanistan.” The discussions, he said, were “preliminary” and “certainly would not rise to the level of being called negotiations.” Two senior members of the


Quetta Shura traveled to Saudi Arabia this month carrying a letter from a top Shura official confirming their status and ask- ing the Saudi government to sponsor talks with the Afghan


government, sources said. The Saudis replied that although in- formal discussions could be held there, as they have been in the past, they would grant no formal status to the effort until the Tali- ban complied with certain “red- lines,” including renunciation of violence, rejection of al-Qaeda and allegiance to the Afghan con- stitution. The U.S. and Afghan governments have set the same prerequisites for serious negotia- tions. An Afghan source attributed dissention in the Taliban ranks to Pakistan’s efforts to maintain a tight hold on the insurgent lead- ership as it tries to influence the shape of any negotiated peace. Many in the Afghan govern-


ment remain highly suspicious of Pakistan’s role. The Obama ad- ministration has used both car- rots and sticks with Pakistan, increasing aid and cooperation while warning the Pakistanis to sever their ties with the insur- gents and move forcefully against them. The administration is holding


a three-day “strategic dialogue” with top Pakistani officials in Washington this week, the third such session this year designed to bring Pakistan closer to U.S. poli- cy aims. Discussions center on distribution of a $7.5 billion five- year economic and development assistance package as well as more than $300 million in aid that the administration has con- tributed to disaster efforts after recent floods there. The administration plans to


ask Congress to approve $2 bil- lion in foreign military financing this year for Pakistani equipment purchases in this country. Spread over five years, that amount would provide an increase of about one-third to current annu- al financing of about $300 mil- lion. Overall military assistance to Pakistan in fiscal 2010 totaled about $1.9 billion. wilsons@washpost.com deyoungk@washpost.com


had limited success, if any, in secretly setting up banks. “The Iranians, we believe, are


trying to set up operations in a number of places, and it’s an indication that they can’t do nor- mal banking,” a senior adminis- tration official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity be- cause he was not authorized to talk publicly. “They want to buy banks and set up banks in various places where they believe they will be able to carry out business without the United States being able to impede it.” M. Bak Sahraei, a spokesman


for the Iranian mission to the UnitedNations, said he could not immediately comment but would seek guidance from officials in Tehran. The U.S. official said the


Obama administration is aware of Iran’s efforts in “a number of neighboring countries and not- so-neighboring countries.” In Iraq, an Iraqi official said,


Tehran has established at least two banks in Baghdad, including one affiliated with Bank Melli, Iran’s largest commercial bank. The U.N. Security Council listed Bank Melli in 2008 as being in- volved with Iran’s nuclear activi- ties, and the EuropeanUnion has shut down all of its offices in Europe. Iran also has tried — without success — to establish commercial banks farther north in Iraq, in the Kurdistan region, the Iraqi official added. Treasury officials have fanned


out across the globe in recent weeks, visiting such countries as Azerbaijan, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Leb- anon to bolster compliance with sanctions. Treasury and State De- partment officials have warned “local authorities of the risks of letting these operations take root,” theU.S. official added. Azerbaijan has a branch of


Bank Melli in Baku, its capital, and last month Iran offered to create a joint bank for the two countries, according to Azeri news reports. In 2008, the U.S. Treasury Department alleged that Futurebank in Bahrain was controlled by Bank Melli, but it


continues to operate there. Iranian Finance Minister


Shamseddin Hosseini told re- porters in Washington this month that while “Iran has faced some trouble from sanctions,” it has had few problems trading with other countries or securing hard currency. “The world is big, and the


people who are trading [with us] find ways to transfer money,” Hosseini asserted. “When you block the stream of water, it goes another route.” “It has always been a cat-and-


mouse game with Iran,” saidMat- thew Levitt, a former Treasury Department official and director of a counterterrorism and intelli- gence programat theWashington Institute for Near East Policy. He said the banking operations, even if successfully created in other countries, are likely to be small- scale and insufficient to make up for the volume of banking activity Iran has lost. For years, the United Arab


Emirates was an important con- duit for Iranian goods and finan- cial transactions. But since the latest U.N. Security Council sanc- tions were approved in June, the UAE has cracked down on Irani- an activities, in part by curtailing financial dealings with Iranian banks blacklisted byWashington. In response, Iran appears to have tried to enlist Malaysia as a new financial hub, but without suc- cess, theU.S. official said. “As the Emirates have begun to


take stronger measures, the Irani- ans are looking for other financial and commercial centers that they can exploit,” he said. “It’s clear that they have had their eye on Malaysia for a while. It is a con- stant topic of discussion with Malaysia authorities. ” Malaysia has been a transship-


ment hub for suspect goods for Iran, making it a logical place for financial transactions. But this year, the Malaysian government announced that it had enacted an export-control law intended to strengthen its ability to curb trade in materiel for weapons of mass destruction. The U.S. official praised the


steps taken byMalaysian authori- ties to thwart Iranian efforts, in- cluding their suspension of the local branch of Iran’s second-larg- est bank, BankMellat. U.S. officials have emphasized


repeatedly to financial institu- tions the reputational risks of continuing to do business with Iranian entities. As the Revolu- tionary Guard Corps, long in- volved in Iran’s nuclear and mis- sile activities, has expanded into other industries, U.S. officials have responded by blacklisting a long list of companies associated with the corps and warning inter- national firmsthat theycannotbe sure if they are doing business with a target of sanctions. Major international banks,


such as Lloyds, Credit Suisse and Barclays, also have been fined hundreds of millions of dollars by U.S. authorities for continuing to process payments that originated in Iran or altering records to disguise such payments. kesslerg@washpost.com


U.S. soldier detained in fatal shooting of Afghan prisoner


BY JOSHUA PARTLOW


kabul — An American soldier has been detained on suspicion of shooting an Afghan prisoner in his cell in Kandahar province, according to NATO officials. The slain Afghan detainee, a


suspected Taliban fighter, was captured Saturday during an op- eration in the southern prov- ince’s volatile Arghandab River valley, a NATO statement said. The detainee, named Mo-


hibullah, was being held by U.S. troops at a military base in Arghandab while he awaited transfer to a formal detention center, Afghan officials said. The next day, he was found dead in his cell of an apparent gunshot wound, according to the NATO statement. The allegation that the Ameri-


can soldier may have murdered the Afghan prisoner could be- come another source of tension in U.S.-Afghan relations. Several American soldiers froma Stryker brigade thatwas based inKanda- har have been accused of mur- dering Afghan civilians for sport and mutilating their bodies. Those cases are being heard in a military court at Joint Base Lew- is-McChord, Wash., home of the


brigade. “The U.S. takes very seriously


any mistreatment of detainees,” Rear Adm. Gregory J. Smith, a military spokesman, said in a statement. “Our forces are trained to uphold the rights of persons in custody and any viola- tion of those rights are fully investigated.” The U.S. Army has begun a


criminal investigation into the circumstances of the detainee’s death. NATO officials have not released the name of the U.S. soldierwhowas taken into custo- dy.


Government officials in Kan-


dahar issued a separate state- ment saying that they “strongly condemn suchmurders.” A provincial government


spokesman, Zalmay Ayoubi, said the death of Mohibullah, whom he described as an “anti-govern- ment person,”would be rigorous- ly investigated. Also Wednesday, police and


military officials said at least nine people, including eight chil- dren, were killed when a school bus carrying female students struck a roadside bomb in the southwestern province of Nim- ruz, the Reuters news service reported.


partlowj@washpost.com


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