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Afghanistan
Papers Reveal Controversial Appointment at Afghan Embassy in US
2019-12-26
[ToloNews] The Afghan Ambassador to the United States Roya Rahmani has appointed Mir Haris Ansari, the son-in-law of Shad Mohammad Sargand
...according to his Ohio University faculty page, Professor Sargand is a civil engineer with considerable expertise in road construction and materials, and has been active in lending his expertise and promoting civil engineering education in his native land...
, as a senior adviser to President Ashraf Ghani
...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money...
on infrastructure as an embassy employee, according to documents seen by TOLOnews.

Documents seen by TOLOnews reveal that Ansari was sent to the embassy under the pretext of assessing the crack in the wall of the Afghan embassy in Washington DC, which is estimated to cost nearly $2 million.

But how is Ansari, who is a diplomat, able to fix a technical issue such as a crack in the wall?
Could it be that Mr. Ansari is a student of his father-in-law, and therefore knows more than a bit about construction and building materials? Or that he can pick his father-in-law’s brains as needed?
According to sources, the daughter of Shad Mohammad Sargand, who is the wife of Ansari, lives in the United States and Mr. Sargand sent his son-in-law to Washington under the same pretext.

Ansari at the same time was given the task of assessing the crack on the wall of the Afghan embassy.

Meanwhile,
...back at the Council of Boskone, Helmuth ordered the entire 614th quadrant searched. The Green Lensman must be found!...
other documents show that Ansari was appointed as the third secretary of the Afghan embassy in Egypt in June of the current year, but sources have told TOLOnews that he (Ansari) never worked at that post.

"Those colleagues who have been sent to the embassies in accordance with the previous decisions will be asked to return to their duties," said Geran Hewad, front man for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"If someone is hired or appointed to a post based on the ties he has, I think it is a clear violation of the law and against the sprit of the Constitution," said Irfanullan Iran, a member of parliament.

Also in the past, TOLOnews obtained documents which revealed that Sargand appointed a woman as his secretary whose educational documents weren’t complete.

But, Amrullah Saleh, President Ghani’s first running mate in the election, has praised Sargand as an educated cadre.

"He (Sargand) is the only Afghan who has obtained two Ph.D. degrees in road and pipeline construction. He has rendered great sacrifice, he has left his comfortable life in the US and has come to Afghanistan where we spent hundreds of millions of dollars annually on importing pipes from abroad. He has come and said that he will start pipeline construction in Afghanistan with a small investment," said Saleh.

On November 26, TOLOnews obtained a similar document showing that Sargand also received a salary from the US’s Ohio University‐while serving as adviser‐over the past two years.

Sargand, who was a professor at the Russ College of Engineering and Technology at Ohio University in the US state of Ohio, established a relationship between the school and the Afghan government over years, which-- according to documents‐earned the school approximately $10 million worth of construction contracts to complete projects for Afghanistan.

But a document obtained by TOLOnews shows that the university won a contract from Afghanistan’s Public Works (now merged with the Transportation Ministry) for a project worth $1.8 million, and-- documents show-- Sargand earned $75,000 dollars per year, for two years, as the contract was implemented, all while serving as Ghani’s adviser.

Neither Sargand nor the Afghan embassy in Washington were available for comment.
Posted by:trailing wife

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