President declares his assets

KABUL (Pajhwok): Retiring President Hamid Karzai registered his assets with the High Office of Oversight and Anti-Corruption on Sunday, a day before his successor’s inauguration.

A brief statement from the Presidential Palace said Karzai registered his assets with the anti-graft body under Article 145 of the Constitution.

However, the statement did not declare the worth of his property.

Registering his assets in 2009 before running in the presidential election in August, Karzai had said he earned 24,350 afghanis ($487) each month.

Karzai had said he had no debts, did not own a private house or car and had no land, while his wife owned 511,000 afs ($10,220) worth of jewelry in 2009.

He said every government employee would be required to declare their assets, income and debts in a new public registry which would be kept and managed by the anti-corruption body.

President-elect Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai is all set to take oath at a special ceremony planned for Monday.

Meanwhile, Karzai signed court orders for the execution of a notorious gangster and serial killer, Khalid aka Habib Istalif, an official said.

Istalif had been arrested by Kabul police in October last year after some resistance, said Jawad Naji, spokesman for the Presidential Palace’s Administrative Affairs Office.

The convict was involved in multiple crimes, including murders, car-lifting, kidnappings for ransom and armed clashes with security forces, according to an investigation into his case by the Attorney General’s Office.

Habib Istalif maintained close contacts with several mafia groups inside and outside the country, the investigation report said.

At the time of his arrest, Kabul police chief Mohammad Zahir Zahir had said Habib, who once escaped from the Pul-i-Charkhi prison ten years ago, was a member of an international mafia group.

ma/nh

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