Embassy row: Shah denies affiliation with any party

ATLANTA (Pajhwok): Afghan diplomat in India Mohammad Qadir Shah says he is not affiliated with any political party, group or movement.

Shah’s remarks come amid reports about new appointments, a power struggle and alleged corruption in the Afghan embassy in New Delhi.

In a statement, he said: “Mohammad Qadir Shah, an Afghan diplomat assigned during the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, strongly refute the baseless, false and mala-fide claims made by official(s) of the Afghan Embassy (who now claims to be the supreme “leadership” of the Afghan Embassy).”

He added: “Last month, Afghanistan’s ambassador was out of India on personal leave, which he takes quite often without nominating any C'dA, a usual diplomatic practice. Not every Afghan can afford holidaying in London every second month.”

Shah continued: “In his absence, there were several complaints from the Afghan people, including of corruption, wherein the ambassador's name was mentioned.”

The complaints were sent by Afghan people to Kabul as well. For the welfare of the Afghans and to ensure continuity in providing consular and other services to them, he opined, MoFA sent a communication to the ambassador and the administrative officer of the embassy to nominate a C'dA who could resolve these issues.

Earlier, Ambassador Farid Mamundzay said in a video clip he proceeded on leave to London to meet his family, but when he heard about the dispute, he came back and handled the situation.

The ambassador also announced he dismissal of Qadir Shah from his position. He insisted the embassy affairs were continuing as normal.

sa/mud