Kabul crime wave fears

Money market: Prime target for crime

		By BBC News Online's Marcus George in Afghanistan

As the interim government of Afghanistan strives to establish a system of law and order in Kabul, concerns are growing over a dramatic rise in crime.

Less than 10 weeks since the Taleban were forced out of Kabul, reports suggest that robbery and violence is increasingly prevalent.

Unconfirmed reports put the murder count in the last week at 49 people, with robbery and car theft becoming commonplace.

Now there is looting and thieving. Under the Taleban crime was very rare.

Cousin of murder victim

The news comes in the same week as an announcement by the government that armed forces have been barred from the city.

One of the murder victims was businessman, Muhammed Ibrahim, who was shot dead after gunmen attempted to rob his office.

"They pulled him into their car and disappeared," said his cousin.

'Desperate'

"Witnesses contacted the police and two hours later a body was found. Ibrahim had been badly beaten and shot with a machine gun."

Mr Qudus: Even the west has crime problems

This has led to allegations that the interim government is doing little to protect the city's population.

"Now there is looting and thieving. Under the Taleban crime was very rare. There was still crime but much less than now. We are desperate for an international security force," Mr Ibrahim's cousin said.

Like Muhammed Ibrahim, businessmen and money traders seem to be the most vulnerable.

Kidnappings

Even powerful money men who have been the victims of crime refuse to be identified. One of Kabul's most prominent money lenders was ransomed for $4,000 after he was kidnapped last month.

He spent days locked inside a shipping container as his captors initially demanded $100,000 for his release.

The increase is crime is a total exaggeration

Local police chief Abdul Qudus

"Since the United Front [Northern Alliance] arrived in Kabul, the security situation has been much worse," he told me as we sat in his office at the end of another frantic trading day.

He said the son of one of his close associates had also been kidnapped. But this time, the captors were not giving in easily.

"Under the Taleban these bandits had no opportunity to commit these terrible crimes. Now they are taking their chances and the conditions are deteriorating," he said.

The bell sounds and trading stops in Afghanistan's equivalent of the Dow Jones, and with cash mounting into millions sitting under a single roof, there is little surprise it is the principle attraction of bandits.

Finely-honed officers

But the Department of Security says the rise in crime is an exaggeration to discredit the government and these words are echoed throughout police stations across the city.

Abdul Qudus, chief of the police station in Karte Chahar district, emphasised the effectiveness of his force.

Kabul polie are being helped by an international security force

With 15 years of experience and training in Germany he had the demure hardness which police chiefs seem to have the world over.

But he was not content with talking. He wanted to show me his finely-honed police officers.

With his bold posture and a 10,000-yard stare, Qudus was, to his force, the personification of power and virtue. "There are always problems of crime, even in the west. But they are not as much as people are saying. They are being exaggerated," he said.

1990s lawlessness

"We are striving to achieve [assasssinated Northern Alliance leader] Ahmad Shah Massoud's goals of peace and security.

"The increase is crime is a total exaggeration. Anyone who says there has been an increase in crime is the enemy of the state and of the police," he said.

With the government struggling to improve the situation, the population of Kabul has been sharply reminded of the anarchy during the mujahideen government in the 1990s.

And many fear worse is yet to come.