U.S. lawmaker to withhold $3.9 billion in Afghan aid over corruption problems

By The Post's Greg Miller:

The chairman of a key House subcommittee said Monday that she would strip $3.9 billion in aid for Afghanistan from next year's spending bill over concerns about rampant graft in the country and alleged efforts by President Hamid Karzai's government to derail corruption probes.

Rep. Nita M. Lowey (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House appropriations subcommittee that oversees the State Department's budget, said the money would be withheld until she has "confidence that U.S. taxpayer money is not being abused to line the pockets of corrupt Afghan government officials, drug lords and terrorists."

Lowey also announced that the panel would begin holding hearings next month on corruption problems in Afghanistan.

Lowey was responding in part to a report in The Washington Post on Monday that senior officials in Afghanistan have repeatedly blocked corruption investigations of individuals with political connections to Karzai's administration.

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