HOW ANTI-CORRUPTION CHIEF ONCE SOLD HEROIN IN LAS VEGAS

Fighting sleaze is no easy task in a country like Afghanistan, as
anti-corruption tsar Izzatullah Wasifi can testify. The economy is
awash with opium money, and bribery and backhanders are rife, as
confirmed by yesterday's alarming UN report. Then again, Mr Wasifi is
unusually well acquainted with the perilous lure of easy drug money.

Twenty years ago US police arrested a young Afghan emigrant at his
hotel room in Caesars Palace, Las Vegas. The Afghan, who introduced
himself as Mr E, tried to sell a bag of heroin to an undercover
detective. At his trial, prosecutors said it was worth $2m.

The man spent three years and eight months in a Nevada state prison
before being released on parole. His wife, who had stood lookout in
the hotel corridor, received a probationary sentence.

Now Mr E - or Mr Wasifi - is the director general of the Afghan
government's main anti-corruption agency.

He plays down the 1988 drug bust as a little youthful fun gone
wrong.

"It was my honeymoon. I was a youngster and youngsters do stuff," he
said with a shrug during an interview at his modest Kabul office.
"Stuff like gambling, drugs" - he rubbed a finger against his nose and
sniffed - "and girls. I was a Las Vegas boy."

The official insisted it was far in the past - "I have paid the price"
- - and compared himself to more famous politicians who have fallen foul
of the law. "Even George Bush has a record," he said, referring to the
US president's 1976 conviction for drink driving. "He was arrested,
same shit as me. There's no difference between him and me."

After decades of violent instability, few Afghan officials can boast
of a squeaky-clean track record. Compared with more senior officials
accused of torture, murder and mass rape, Mr Wasifi is a minnow of
misconduct.

But critics say that perceptions matter, and that Mr Wasifi's
colourful past is a bridge too far, especially in a country that
produces 93% of the world's heroin, and where drug money has infected
every level of government.

Crime

Yesterday Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of the UN Office on
Drugs and Crime, underscored growing worries about corruption. "The
government's benign tolerance of corruption is undermining the future.
No country has ever built prosperity on crime," he said.

Several foreign diplomats said they were unhappy that although reports
of Mr Wasifi's conviction surfaced five months ago, he has kept his
job. "It is outrageous," said a senior western diplomat. "We've made
it quite clear that we want him removed."

Other critics say the controversy is symptomatic of a wider malaise -
the failure of President Hamid Karzai to tackle the culture of greed
that is eroding his authority and the legitimacy of his government.

"There is a very serious problem that affects all efforts to win
hearts and minds and build their confidence in the state," said Ahmad
Nader Nadery of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission.

The nexus between drugs and corruption is most powerful at the
interior ministry, according to a recent report by the UN and the
World Bank. It found that drug gangs have bought the loyalty of police
chiefs and government officials across the country. One senior officer
said that any police chief who refused to get involved in the trade
would be "threatened to be killed and replaced".

Mr Karzai's supporters counter that he is leading an inexperienced
government preoccupied with the pressing threat of the Taliban
insurgency. Also, in appointing government officials he suffers from a
chronic shortage of qualified personnel. "There's a real lack of good
people in the ministries," said one diplomat. "Karzai pulls the levers
of power and they come away in his hands."

Nevertheless the accusations of corruption continue to grow. One of
the most egregious examples can be found a few streets from Mr
Karzai's presidential palace in Sherpur, a gleaming new neighbourhood
in central Kabul. Here, dozens of giant gaudy mansions squeeze into
small plots. Pink or green windows, towering Roman columns and
mirrored cupolas peek over high walls and concrete blast barriers. A
giant stone eagle perches on one roof. The British embassy stands
across the road.

A property agent stood on the roof of one glass-walled mansion,
pointing at the neighbours and naming the owners. "General in the
army. General. Minister. Warlord," he said.

Sherpur was army land until 2003 when Marshal Fahim Khan, then defence
minister, parcelled it out to relatives, ex-ministers and former
militia commanders for a nominal price. A government commission set up
to investigate the scandal never made its findings public. Last week
Muhammad Ajan stood outside his two near-completed mansions, hoping to
find a wealthy western tenant. He bought the plot from Mr Khan for
$250,000 two years ago, he said. His own fortune came from "exporting
animal skins to Pakistan".

Some of Sherpur's newest tenants include international organisations
helping to rebuild Afghanistan - the Spanish embassy, al-Jazeera, the
Mines Advisory Group, and International Relief and Development (IRD),
a US government-funded contractor.

"This is what outrages me," said Mr Nadery. "It demonstrates a state
of impunity where there is no accountability for anyone, not even the
international community."

Mr Karzai has introduced some reforms. Senior police appointments are
now scrutinised by an international panel and the process is broadly
considered a success. Other top government positions are vetted by an
advisory board, although Mr Karzai retains veto power and only five
jobs have so far been examined.

But Mr Karzai refuses to move against the rich, powerful and well
connected. Although elected with an overwhelming mandate in 2004,
under Mr Karzai no big drug dealers have been arrested in Afghanistan,
and no government minister has been fired for corruption.

The problem, many say, is Mr Karzai's political style. In
Afghanistan's tribally dominated culture, he has made an art of
conciliation and compromise. He also values family loyalty. One of the
most persistent complaints is that he has failed to act against a
close relative widely considered to be a big player in the Kandahar
drugs business.

The Guardian made several email requests for comment from Mr Karzai's
spokesmen without reply.

Frustrated

Mr Wasifi may owe his job to his relationship with Mr Karzai - the two
have known each other since childhood. He preferred to concentrate on
the future, he said, and his plans for rooting out drug-related
corruption. But he was being frustrated at every turn.

Waving a sheet containing a list of 73 cases, he said: "All these are
pending. Nothing has been done," before launching into a tirade
against the "thieves" at the department of justice.

"We need strong and determined leadership in this country - no
chickens," he concluded. "Chickens cannot work in Afghanistan."