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Karzai Denies U.S. Cover-Up Over Military Air-Strike
Saturday, August 3, 2002
By Paisley Dodds
The Associated Press

Karzai was accompanied by Mullah Mohammed Anwar, who lost his brother and 12 other family members in the U.S. raid. Anwar said he wasn't there during the attack but said villagers told him that a bright floodlight used for the wedding festivities apparently drew the U.S. forces. Asked whether the Americans handcuffed women, he replied, "Yes, villagers told me that the men did this."

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- AP
President Hamid Karzai dismissed allegations Friday that the United States tried to cover up a deadly air strike and said a continued American presence was crucial to Afghanistan's future.

Flanked by U.S. special forces bodyguards, Karzai said he visited one of the villages attacked in the July 1 air raid, and when asked whether he thought there had been a cover-up said: "I don't think so. People would have told me."

Karzai said the air attack in Uruzgan province killed 46 civilians and wounded 117, many of them celebrating at a wedding party. The attack was investigated by the United States and by a separate United Nations fact-finding group. Previously, Afghan officials put the death toll at 48.

A U.N. report has not
been publicly released, but the Times of London reported Monday that the initial draft concluded American forces may have removed evidence after the attack and violated human rights. U.S. officials denied the allegations.
(More: The South Florida Sun-Sentinel News Source)
2002 © The Associated Press.

Dan