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Afghan officials fired in corruption probe
KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A nationwide investigation into corruption and abuse of power has resulted in the firing of 15 to 20 Afghan officials, ranging from customs officials to security commanders, a presidential spokesman said Sunday. President Hamid Karzai's Cabinet made the decision at an emergency weekend meeting after hearing reports from five delegations of investigators the government sent to certain Afghan provinces, according to Sazel Akhbar, Karzai's spokesman. Akhbar said the officials -- in Jalalabad, Kandahar and other cities -- have not yet been informed of their firings, and the government is concerned about how the news will be received. Akhbar said the government would "try political means" to convince the fired officials to leave peacefully. "If they don't accept it, then other means will be found," he said. Akhbar said the sacked officials included the director of customs, director of agriculture, mayor and director of public works in Jalalabad; the chief of intelligence in Kandahar; and the security commander, head of the frontier brigade, district administrator and financial director in Konduz. In Herat, he said, an entire security brigade was eliminated. However, it is unclear what effect the move will have as Karzai's government has little authority outside of the capital, Kabul. Large areas of the rest of the country are under the control of powerful warlords, some of whom have agreed shaky alliances with the Kabul government. Private armiesThe warlords control their own large private armies and the sackings are being seen as part of an effort to extend the central government's authority over the country beyond Kabul. The shakedown comes as the government begins work on a new national constitution replacing the one established my Afghanistan's former rulers, the Taliban. Almost a year after the capital fell to North Alliance forces, a nine member "draft committee" was formed Sunday to begin work on the new document. The current constitution is based strongly on Shariah law -- the strict Islamic code preferred by the Taliban. The final draft of the new constitution will have to be approved by a meeting of the the loya jirga -- the traditional afghan tribal council.
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