As Afghan election nears, warlord returns

KABUL, Afghanistan - A notorious Afghan warlord accused of allowing the murder of hundreds, if not thousands, of prisoners and then destroying the evidence returned to Afghanistan last night as part of what appears to be a political deal brokered with President Hamid Karzai.

Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum arrived from Turkey just four days before the Afghan presidential elections, in which his support could boost Karzai's chances of securing more than 50 percent of the vote - the threshold for avoiding a second round of elections.

Karzai has come under international criticism for trying to consolidate his position by striking deals with warlords such as Dostum and those suspected of connections to the opium trade.

Such alliances are seen to undermine the authority of the central government, promote corruption, and contribute to the Taliban revival.

A U.S. Embassy official condemned Dostum's return, the Associated Press reported.

There have been repeated allegations that his men, from the ethnic Uzbek minority, caused the deaths of up to 2,000 Taliban and al-Qaeda prisoners in late-2001, a time when Dostum worked closely with U.S. special forces and intelligence teams.

A McClatchy investigation last year uncovered information suggesting Dostum later directed the removal of the remains of those slain prisoners, destroying the evidence.

President Obama has asked his national security team to determine whether to launch a full investigation.

Seamak Herawi, a spokesman for Karzai, told reporters there was "no legal obstacle" for Dostum's return.

Hundreds of jubilant members of Dostum's Jumbish Party converged on Kabul International Airport to greet Dostum, a former communist general who repeatedly switched sides in the devastating civil war that erupted between Islamic guerrilla groups after the Soviet occupation.

Dostum was put under house arrest in Afghanistan last year after his men were said to have dragged a rival leader out of his home, beaten him and his family, and then held the man hostage. In late November, he was allowed to leave for Turkey.

Dostum at the time was stripped of his mostly honorary title of chief of staff to the commander in chief, but it was later reinstated.

Dostum has denied the prisoners in 2001 died in large numbers, a position he repeated in a statement last month.

Some of the former prisoners said they were stuffed into shipping containers in which hundreds suffocated.

Dostum and Karzai are expected to travel to Dostum's hometown of Sheberghan, capital of Jawzjan Province, in campaigning for Thursday's presidential election.