On Friday evening, ABC News reported on secret US military documents obtained from a disc bought from an Afghanistan bazaar which show that the military "knows - or knew" the locations in Pakistan of 15 high level wanted members of al Qaeda and the Taliban, and which purportedly link nine Afghani officials, including Karzai's brother to drug lords, RAW STORY has found.
"The documents show the U.S. knows - or knew - the locations of some of the most wanted terrorists," reported Brian Ross. "They are in Pakistan. And the documents name prominent figures, including President Karzai's brother, thought by the military to be in the pay of drug lords."
Wali Karzai denied the allegations on camera.
"I never was in drug business," Karzai said. "I never benefitted. I never facilitated. I never helped anyone with the transportation or any kind."
"The U.S. military today dismissed a media report citing intelligence suspicions that senior al-Qaida leaders were hiding in Pakistan and that the Afghan president's brother had ties to drug trafficking as being outdated," reports the Associated Press.
"But U.S. spokesman Col. Tom Collins declined to reject the authenticity of the report, saying he was unable to discuss classified military information," wrote Amir Shah for A.P. "Afghan officials, however, rejected the claims against the president's brother as baseless."
RAW STORY partial transcript highlights of the video segment:
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The US military says the documents, marked secret, appear to be genuine, part of a US targetting assessment produced in January of last year. Officials say the situation on the ground has changed little since then.
Incredibly the secret documents were bought at an Afghanistan street bazaar. They were stored on a computer flash disc sold for $200 at this stall, a few hundred feet from the front gate of the US airbase in Bagram.
One map shows infiltration routes and locations of four al Qaeda training camps in Pakistan marked AQ, and the location in Pakistan for al Qaeda's number two, Iman al Zawahari. In total, the documents list 16 senior level al Qaeda and Taliban leaders, including Mullah Omar, as hiding in Pakistan, where US troops cannot operate.
US officials say a growing opium drug trade in Afghanistan is also helping to support al Qaeda and the Taliban, and the documents list nine current or former Afghan government figures as 'problem makers,' among them, Wali Karzai, the brother of the Afghani president.
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More information at the ABC News blog The Blotter.
