Karzai's Afghan Protectors

Gone are the burly Americans kitted out with M4 rifles with telescopic sights and night-vision goggles who were charged with guarding Afghan president Hamed Karzai. Gone too are the armoured Hummer vehicles prominently parked outside the presidential palace. Even the super-efficient sniffer dogs that patrolled the area menacingly seem to have vanished overnight.

In their place stand Afghan security men, armed only with aged Kalashnikovs. The only dogs around are a pack of mangy animals that cringe at the sight of an approaching visitor.

For the first time since a wave of assassinations hit his government in 2002, Karzai has decided to entrust his safety to an all-Afghan bodyguard unit. The decision to sideline his American security service should earn the president some popularity points at home. But it is not clear whether it will make him any safer.

"These [Afghan] bodyguards have enough equipment and training to provide adequate security for the president," insisted Khaleeq Ahmad, deputy head of the president's press office.

Some sources close to the presidential palace aren’t so sure, noting that DynCorp, the private security contractor hired by the US Department of State under a 50-million-dollar contract seems to have removed vehicles, weapons and other security equipment in addition to its personnel.

DynCorp did not respond to numerous requests for interviews on the subject. But presidential spokesman Mohammad Karim Rahimi reiterated that the Afghan bodyguards had been well trained by DynCorp and had enough equipment to be able to do the job.

“There is no cause for concern,” said Karimi.

DynCorp had been looking after Karzai’s security since late 2002, when he survived an assassination attempt in Kandahar. Earlier in 2002, two prominent members of the then interim government, Vice-President Haji Abdul Qadir and Minister of Aviation and Tourism Abdul Rahman, were assassinated, and Defence Minister Mohammad Qasim Fahim narrowly escaped an attempt on his life.

The firm, which is believed to have close ties to the Bush administration, was recently awarded a multi-million dollar contract by the State Department to train and equip the Afghan police force.

The use of Americans to protect the president proved unpopular among Afghans, who saw it yet more confirmation of their view of Karzai as little more than a US puppet.

This resentment was compounded by the aggressive and at times confrontational behaviour of DynCorp employees. One BBC correspondent reported seeing a DynCorp guard slap an Afghan minister, and the State Department was forced to issue a formal rebuke to the firm after a series of such incidents.

Both Karzai’s supporters and detractors see the decision to replace the Americans as an open bid for public support.

"Many times the president was at meetings with tribal elders and other influential people. They would tell him to get rid of the foreign bodyguards. He finally accepted their suggestion," said deputy spokesman Khaleeq.

“By having American bodyguards around him, Karzai created a question in people’s minds about his independence,” said Mohammad Hassan Wolesmal, political analyst and editor of he weekly Jarida-ye-Milli-ye-Afghan (Afghan National Magazine).

“Perhaps in making this decision, Karzai is bowing to the people’s will.”

But others said it would take more than replacing his foreign bodyguards to demonstrate his independence.

"Using foreign bodyguards was an insult to Afghans," said Bashir Ahmad Beijan, deputy head of the Afghanistan National Congress party.

He thinks the damage has already been done. "In our opinion, Karzai can't make a decision anyway," he said. "He does whatever the Americans want him to."

Providing security in Afghanistan remains a difficult task.

In August, 2004, 12 people were killed when DynCorp’s offices in Kabul were bombed, and a month later Karzai escaped yet another assassination attempt, this time in Gardez, during his presidential election campaign.

Now, all but a handful of the 300 DynCorp staff who protected Karzai for three years have left the country, taking their equipment with them. And while their duties included training their Afghan replacements, many fear the new guards may not be up to scratch.

“I am not 100 per cent sure that the Afghan bodyguards will protect Karzai in critical situations,” said Fazel Rahman Oria, political analyst and editor of Payam, a bi-monthly magazine.

The switch to an all-Afghan service has its own special challenges in a country as full of ethnic, tribal and political tensions as Afghanistan. Sources at the palace say that the guards were selected from among all of Afghanistan’s ethnic groups, and there are some who think this may be a mistake.

“Karzai should have chosen his bodyguards from among his own tribesmen,” said Wolesmal. “Otherwise he may have someone among his guards who could be a threat to him."

He pointed to the case of Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi, who was assassinated by two of her Sikh bodyguards in 1984.

Khaleeq refused to divulge the number of Afghan bodyguards protecting the president, citing security considerations, but media reports put the number at approximately 600.

The switch to Afghan guards will undoubtedly save some money. DynCorp’s security personnel were part of the foreign elite which earns large salaries and leads what Afghans consider an inordinately privileged lifestyle. The Afghan guards will receive only a fraction of the pay and will not require housing allowances, security expenses or per diems.

The public are also happy about the departure of Karzai's American bodyguards, although they are slow to forgive Karzai his long dependence on them.

"Whenever Karzai talked about freedom…, I just laughed and said to myself, ‘who’s that standing behind you?’” said Gul Ahmad, 65, a resident of Kabul.

"I have never heard from my forefathers of any president being protected by soldiers from another country."

Abdul Baseer Saeed is an IWPR reporter in Kabul.