Afghan presidential aide threatens war after dismissal

By Shadi Khan Saif

KABUL, Afghanistan (AA) - President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani has sacked his top aide, who in turn has warned the move may lead to another civil war in the country.

Ghani fired Ahmad Zia Massoud, the brother of legendary slain military commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, late Monday.

The president had made Massoud his top aide following the 2014 presidential elections, which had been marred by irregularities and rigging claims.

On Tuesday, Massoud in a news conference in the capital Kabul said the president could not just sack him because he had joined the National Unity Government in a bid to avoid civil unrest in the country.

“Based on the agreement of the National Unity Government, the president has no right to dismiss me.

“The government formed [after the 2014 elections] was a compromise, so whoever is doing this is paving the way for instability, and God forbid, it can lead to civil war,” he said.

Massoud is also the vice president of the Jamiat-e-Islami Afghanistan party, which has enjoyed power since the fall of the Taliban.

During the presidential election campaign, Massoud had faced criticism from his political allies, including his brother Ahmad Wali Massoud who was in the opposite camp, for aligning himself with Ghani.

Top Afghan officials have so far not commented on the latest development.

According to a decree issued by the presidential palace, Massoud was dismissed from his post in line with Article 64 of the constitution. The reasons for his dismissal were not mentioned in the decree.

Shah Hussain Murtazawi, spokesman for the president, told Anadolu Agency the president has the authority to appoint and dismiss top officials for the sake of good governance.

“The constitution is very clear about it, it grants the president the authority to appoint or dismiss officials, there is no ambiguity in this regard,” Murtazawi said.

Afghanistan has a bloody past when various armed factions turned their guns on each other in a struggle for capturing power after the fall of a pro-Soviet regime in the 1990s.

The relative peace since the fall of the Taliban in 2001 has given some respite, and has led to notable reconstruction of the country and development of the institutions but the ethnic and ideological fault lines remain in the country that is battling a brutal Taliban insurgency since years.