MPs insist on probe into colleagues’ deaths

KABUL): Lawmakers on Wednesday asked the government to seriously investigate cases of their slain colleagues and bring the perpetrators to justice forthwith.

So far 18 members of the Wolesi Jirga, the two chambers of the parliament, have been killed in bomb and suicide attacks.

Assassinated lower house members are Syed Mustafa Kazimi, Nazakmir Sarfaraz, Sahibur Rahman Himmat, Mohammad Arif Zarif, Sibghatullah Zaki, Eng. Abdul Matin, Abdul Mutalib Baik, Ahmad Khan Samangani, Shahnaz Himmati, Fazlur Rahman Samkani, Mohammad Islam Mohammadi, Habibullah, Dad Mohammad Khan, Asmatullah Mohabat and Mohammad Hashim Watanwal.

The slain senators include Ustad Abdul Saboor Farid, Mohammad Yunus Shirin Aqa and Arsalan Rahmani.

The parliament holds memorial services each year to pay respects to the dead lawmakers. At Wednesday’s memorial service, Wolesi Jirga Speaker Abdul Rauf Ibrahimi said the authorities concerned should arrest those responsible for killing parliamentarians.

He said added the government was duty-bound to investigate the Baghlan bombing, in which six MPs were killed, and other attacks that led to the deaths of lawmakers. He said the perpetrators should be exposed, brought to justice and punished severely.

“Before the second term of the parliament ends, I request President Karzai to identify and bring to justice the perpetrators behind assassinations of house members,” the speaker added.

Several key figures including Karzai’s brother, Ahmad Wali Karzai, High Peace Council chief Burhanuddin Rabbani and 203rd Pamir Zone commander Gen. Daud Daud have been killed in insurgent attacks over the past three years.

Presidential advisor Jan Mohammad Khan, Kandahar police head Khan Mohammad Mujahid, his Kunduz counterpart Abdul Rahman Syedkheli, other senior government officials and a large number of tribal elders were also killed.

Ibrahimi warned the killing spree would continue as long as foreign meddling in the country’s affairs was not stopped. He said the government had long been calling on militants to renounce violence and join the peace process.

“Call for peace should not be considered the government’s weakness. If the rebels are Muslims and Afghans, they should come to the negotiating table,” the speaker observed.

First Deputy Chairman of Senate Mohammad Alam Ezedyar also asked the government to probe cases of assassinated legislators and arrest those involved as soon as possible. He said it was a collective responsibility of government institutions and people to bring the killers of Afghan elders to justice.

He said those Afghan leaders who tried to work for the betterment of the nation were killed and the attacks involved both overt and covert foreign hands.

Lawmaker Syed Ali Kazimi, a brother of Mustafa Kazimi, criticised former security officials of Baghlan province, saying they had failed to take satisfactory security measures to prevent the attack on lawmakers.

ma/mud

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