GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Abdul Qadeer Fitrat, the head of Afghanistan’s central bank, has fled to the US, where he has a residence, saying that his investigations into corruption have put his life in danger. The BBC reports a government spokesman in Afghanistan as saying that the resignation amounted to treason, noting that “Waheed Omar, Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s spokesman, also added that Mr Fitrat was himself under investigation.”
He was named governor of the central bank in 2007.
The Wall Street Journal reports that he launched an investigation into Kabul Bank in 2010, “which brought the nation’s financial industry to its knees last fall. The lender’s politically connected insiders, including shareholders, are suspected of borrowing some $850 million from the bank, or about 94% of its total loans.”
His resignation, according to the New York-based paper, puts in jeopardy IMF (International Monetary Fund) reforms in Afghanistan which could leave millions in donor money in limbo.
Kosovo was in the eye of the world Thursday 22 July in a way it has not been for some time, after the International Court of Justice said its unilateral declaration of independence in 2008 was not illegal, news followed soon after by an announcement that the governor of its central bank had been arrested in an anti-fraud investigation. The court, in The Hague, noted that while the declaration of independence had not violated international law, this did not necessarily imply Kosovo had the right to declare its independence, leaving the question unresolved and states free to decide if they will recognize Kosovo as a fellow nation. Serbia promptly said it would never recognize Kosovo as an independent state.
Hashim Rexhepi, the governor of Kosovo’s central bank, was arrested as part of a Eulex investigation. Eulex is the European Union’s rule of law mission. He and four others are being investigated for “suspected bribes, tax evasion, influence-peddling and money laundering,” reports the BBC. According to Reuters, Kosovo has received euros 4 billion in aid since declaring independence; “Kosovo’s main currency is the euro and Rexhepi’s role was to monitor the work of banks in the country.”
Links to other sites: Guardian editorial, TSR (Fre), VOA
The governor of Caqueta province in southern Colombia was killed Tuesday by rebels who kidnapped him Monday at his home, in what the BBC calls the highest-profile kidnapping since 2002. President Alvaro Uribe ascribes the murder to Farc rebels, saying they apparently slit Luis Francisco Cuellar’s throat to keep him from making noise as they fled security forces. The governor had been kidnapped several times.
Links to other sites: BBC, Miami Herald
Basel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Már Guðmundsson Thursday 20 August became the new governor of Iceland’s central bank, post he takes up after five years in Basel as deputy head of the monetary and economic department of the Bank for International Settlements. Iceland’s economy “hit the wall” according to Forbes in February 2009, with high unemployment and riots in the streets; getting the economy back on its feet is widely seen by international economic observers as a daunting challenge.
Related: Ice News, 20 August 2009
Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska, made headlines for weeks as the Republican’s vice-presidential candidate in 2008, and now she’s harvesting more attention, some negative, some positive, for retiring early from her first term as governor. The stated reasons are to protect her family, the speculation is that it’s part of plans to run for president in 2012. Republicans “movers and shakers” told National Public Radio‘s political observer Ken Rudin how they view her move.
Protest broke out in Ado-Ekit, Nigeria Tuesday 5 April after the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Mr. Segun Oni was re- elected governor in Ekiti state. The court of appeals dismissed Oni’s election and ordered re-vote two weeks earlier. Protesters barricaded streets and set fires in the area. All Africa
The Illinois House in the US has voted 114-1 to impeach Governor Rodney Blagojevitch after reviewing a list of “transgressions,” reports the Chicago Sun-Times, and if the Senate agrees with that vote in its own review later this month, the governor will be the first one ever in the state to be forced out of office. The one representative who voted against impeachment said he felt there was not enough evidence and he simply followed his own conscience.
The arrest Tuesday in Chicago of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich on corruptions charges has the US Democratic Party concerned about its image, with the governor and his aide accused of trying to sell the Senate seat of US President-elect Barack Obama. Blagojevich was freed on $4,500 bail and his passport was seized. CNN
