KABUL - Afghan senators, in reaction to remarks by the President Karzai confirming receiving cash from CIA, said Tuesday that "the president has violated national sovereignty and the country's constitution." The head of the Afghan senate house also said that the foreign media is trying to mislead the Afghan public by releasing such stories ahead of signing the bilateral security agreement between the US and Afghanistan.
"Such kind of money has been given since 11 years ago. Why didn't the foreign media release any report on it? What this report aims is misleading the public and inconsideration towards President Karzai's demands for signing the security agreement," said Fazlulhadi Muslimyar, head of the senate.
Senator Rafiullah Haidari said "Why wasn't it revealed in the past years that the CIA paid cash to the presidency? The aim behind such reports is clear, the foreign media want to make problems in Afghanistan in the interests of their countries."
The Afghan senators suggested that the people of Afghanistan should be enlightened on how the funds from CIA were spent.
"Receiving CIA money by the presidency is an insult to the country and it's a national betrayal. This issue should be clarified," said Senator Hedayatullah Rahayee.
The given cash is illegal, the senators said, pointing out that the issue is raising many questions.
"The president has confirmed that he has received the money from the CIA. The country's first man should be committed to the constitution.
Receiving this money is violating the constitution," Senator Ali Akbar Jamshidi said
Some senators said that the CIA money to Afghan presidency did not have to be veiled and that the people of Afghanistan had to be told about the matter if it is wasn't illegal.
The comments come as, the Afghan President Hamid Karzai confirmed on Monday that his National Security Council was receiving money from the US for many years, but he did not comment whether the cash was coming directly from the CIA.
The New York Times in an article revealed that several Afghan officials at President Karzai's office have been on the CIA's payroll since the beginning of the war twelve years ago.
Speaking at a press conference in the Finland's capital Helsinki, President Karzai said the money was spent for military and logistical purposes and he thanked the US for the support.
"The National Security Council (NSC) has received supports from the US government over the past ten years, not in large amounts but in small amounts," President Karzai said.
"The money has been used for different purposes such as in operations, assisting wounded Afghan soldiers and paying rents. The assistance has been very useful and we are thankful to them."
President Karzai's former Deputy Chief of Staff, Khalil Roman, who was quoted in the New York Times article confirming the payments, told TOLOnews on Monday that "the money was delivered to President Karzai's house without revelation of where it came from."
However, President Karzai's National Security Advisor, Rangin Dadfar Spanta, who accompanies the president in the Europe trip, told TOLOnews that he was not aware of any payments from the CIA to the NSC.
"I, personally, as the National Security Advisor [to President Karzai] don't have any information about such payments and how they are spent.
I just learnt today that such payments were made to the presidential palace," Spanta told TOLOnews on the phone from Helsinki.
The New York Times reported that for more than a decade, wads of US dollars packed into suitcases, backpacks and, on occasion, plastic shopping bags have been dropped off every month or so at the offices in the presidential palace.
All told, tens of millions of dollars have flowed from the CIA to the presidential office, according to the New York Times. (Tolo news)