Pubdate: Wed, 28 Sep 2005 Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA) Copyright: 2005 San Jose Mercury News Contact: http://www.mercurynews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/390 Author: Paul Watson, LA Times Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin) AFGHAN OFFICIAL RESIGNS AFTER MONTHS OF COMPLAINTS KABUL, Afghanistan - Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali, one of the most respected members of President Hamid Karzai's Cabinet, resigned Tuesday after complaining for months that some senior officials were involved in drugs and corruption. Jalali announced his resignation in an interview with a private Afghan television station, but was evasive about his reasons for stepping down. "I will not work as interior minister any more," Jalali told Tolo TV. "Maybe there are reasons for this and maybe not, but one of the main reasons is that I wish to resume my academic research. I was involved in academia in the past, and I feel really comfortable in that field." Jalali's press secretary said the former minister would explain his resignation at a news conference today. Khaleeq Ahmad, a presidential representative, insisted there is no friction between Jalali and Karzai. "This is something he's been wanting to do for a long time," Ahmad said. "He has announced it on TV, and he's now sure that he wants to leave and pursue an academic career in Washington." Jalali headed the effort to build a national police force, which is essential to expanding security to the large areas of the country that are still unstable. He also vowed to go after corrupt officials and drug barons. But officers in the counternarcotics police echoed Jalali's complaints that senior officials in Kabul, the capital, and in the provinces profit from the heroin trade. Two U.S. soldiers were killed in attacks in eastern Afghanistan, the U.S. military said Tuesday. An Army soldier died under enemy fire during an assault west of Kandahar on Monday, while a Marine was killed the same day when insurgents fired mortar shells, rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles at a base near Asadabad, the capital of Kunar province. At least 53 Americans have died in combat in Afghanistan this year, the deadliest for U.S. troops since the Taliban government was toppled in late 2001. About 1,200 Afghans, many of them members of the security forces and suspected guerrillas, have died in the insurgency this year. In February, Jalali said the Afghan government had a list of senior government officials who were involved in the multibillion-dollar heroin and opium trade. But he said the country's police force lacked the resources to gather evidence and prosecute them. Jalali tried to resign the same month, but Karzai told him to stay in his post until after the Sept. 18 elections for parliament, according to an Interior Ministry source who said he spoke Tuesday to senior officials close to Jalali. In conversations with his staff Tuesday, Jalali cited several reasons for resigning, said the source, who spoke on condition that he not be named because he is not authorized to speak to reporters. The reasons included conflicts with officials in the presidential palace and Jalali's belief that the new parliament, which must approve the Cabinet, would not accept him because he has dual citizenship, the source said. Jalali is a U.S. citizen. Ahmad said Jalali's deputy in charge of the counternarcotics police, Gen. Mohammed Daoud, will carry on the departing minister's fight against drug traffickers. - --- MAP posted-by: Elizabeth Wehrman