Afghan Official Is Slain at Airport

A mob of Muslim pilgrims, angered by two-day flight delays, attacked and killed Afghanistan’s interim transportation minister at the airport here Thursday, an Interior Ministry spokesman said today.

Air Transportation and Tourism Minister Abdul Rahman had gone to the airport to catch a flight when he was attacked by a large number of pilgrims who were waiting to fly to Mecca, the Saudi holy city, said the spokesman, Faraidoon, who spoke to Associated Press.

The incident was first reported on Qatar-based Al Jazeera television. It could not be confirmed Thursday night in Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital, because telephones to police and ministries do not function and a curfew forbids civilians to be on the street after 10 p.m.

Faraidoon, who uses only one name, confirmed the report this morning.

The incident deals yet another blow to the fledgling administration of interim Prime Minister Hamid Karzai, which is attempting to restore law and order to Afghanistan after more than two decades of war. Most recent killings here have occurred during fighting between rival ethnic groups or in clashes between soldiers loyal to competing warlords.

A visit to Kabul’s airport earlier Thursday to investigate why the facility seemed unusually busy found hundreds of pilgrims, clad in thin white robes and sandals, standing near the runway. One pilgrim, a senior official in the Interior Ministry, said he had paid $1,400 to fly to Mecca and had been waiting two days to get on the flight.

The hajj to Mecca, the birthplace of the prophet Muhammad and Islam’s holiest city, is one of the pillars of the Muslim faith. Muslims who are financially and physically able are obliged to make the pilgrimage at least once.

Although the pilgrims at the airport seemed perturbed, they did not appear hostile. Nevertheless, a guard shooed a foreign reporter away from the crowds, citing “security” reasons.

At least one plane from Afghanistan’s national airline, Ariana, sat on the edge of the runway with many would-be passengers milling around it. It wasn’t clear why it was sidelined. There are only three scheduled flights from Kabul a week, to two cities within Afghanistan, and they are often canceled because of bad weather, lack of passengers or mechanical problems.

Last month, Ariana made its first international flight in three years, to New Delhi, after the United Nations lifted a ban imposed as part of sanctions against the Taliban regime. Al Jazeera said foreign aircraft were being leased to ferry 5,000 pilgrims to Mecca.

Although the airport wasn’t flying out pilgrims, it was busy with other matters. Numerous military helicopters and transport planes took off and landed throughout the afternoon. At least one giant Antonov cargo plane took off. Several nearby roads were blocked off. A woman who had been scheduled to fly on a United Nations flight earlier Thursday said it had been canceled because airspace couldn’t be secured.

A police officer said some of the planes were transporting equipment for the international peacekeeping force. Soldiers from several nations are arriving to bring the force up to its planned strength of 5,000. They will help keep order in Kabul’s streets.

Although the U.S. has declined to participate in the peacekeeping force, it seems to be establishing more of a presence in Kabul. Special Forces soldiers in plain clothes have been spotted more frequently around the city in recent days. The Ariana Hotel in the city center has been fortified with sandbags and concealed with draperies, and it is rumored to be the new home of some U.S. troops. The soldiers would not discuss their mission.