Kabul mayor sentenced to four years for corruption

Dec 7, 2009, 14:34 GMT

Kabul - The mayor of the Afghan capital Kabul was Monday sentenced to four years in prison for bribery and failing to do his job, an Afghan official said Monday.

The case is seen as the first major anti-corruption move by newly- inaugurated President Hamid Karzai, who has vowed to fight endemic corruption in his administration.

Mayor Mir Abdul Ahad Sahebi was convicted in absentia, Enayatullah Kamal told German Press Agency dpa. 'There were several cases of corruption where he is accused of involvement, but he was found guilty on charges of one case so far. The rest will be dealt with soon.'

Sahebi is also accused of failure to spend millions of US dollars allocated to his office for development and reconstruction projects for the city, he said.

Kamal did not reveal the nature of the bribe for which the mayor was convicted, but said that another official from Kabul municipality had been sentenced to two years in prison on embezzlement charges.

Afghanistan's attorney general had already issued a warrant for Sahebi's arrest, according to Kamal. The private Tolo TV channel, citing unknown officials, meanwhile reported that Sahebi was arrested on Monday evening by Afghan security forces.

Karzai, who won re-elected in fraud-tainted elections last month, is under massive pressure from Western leaders to crack down on graft.

Last month, the Afghan government launched an anti-corruption unit and assigned a task force to target senior government officials suspected of involvement in rampant corruption.

Karzai was expected to unveil the list of his new cabinet ministers on Tuesday, but a source from parliament said that the plan was postponed until next Saturday.