National day of mourning for assassinated minister

(9 Jul 2002)

1. Various people entering mosque to give prayers of remembrance for slain vice president Abdul Qadir at Wazir Akbar Khan Mosque, Kabul
2. Midshot of men listening as prayers intoned in mosque
3. Midshot of President Hamid Karzai listens to prayers
4. Pan of cabinet members to Hamid Karzai
5. Midshot of Karzai and cabinet members in mosque
6. Wideshot of Imam reading prayers in mosque
7. Karzai and Lakhdar Brahimi - U-N envoy for Afghanistan leaving mosque past line of armed guards
8. Wideshot of people shopping
9. Various of International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) soldiers patrolling through shoppers
10. Wideshot of exterior of ISAF headquarters building
11. Various of journalists in briefing room
12. SOUNDBITE: (English) Lt. Col. Oz, ISAF spokesman, Turkish Army:
"Security precautions taken by all ISAF units have been stepped up. Be assured that all the troops under my command will work tirelessly in close co-operation with the transitional authority to take every precaution against such a terrible crime happening again. With the consensus of every member of the transitional authority, ISAF has been requested to give assistance and advice to the Afghan agencies investigating the assassination of vice president and minister of public works Haji Abdul Qadir. A joint commission will be established which will include representatives from ISAF, the Minister of the Interior and the Minister of Justice. It is vital to bring the perpetrators of this crime to justice as soon as possible and ISAF will donate every resource to quickly achieve this."
13. Various of ISAF members patrolling in vehicles and on foot through Kabul

STORYLINE:

Afghans have been observing a day of mourning for their slain vice president, Abdul Qadir, who was killed by gunmen Saturday as he left his office in Kabul.

Afghan flags were flying at half mast in the capital as mourners prepared to offer prayers at mosques throughout the city for Qadir.

He was the most prominent ethnic Pashtun in the government after Karzai himself.

President Hamid Karzai, his Cabinet members and hundreds of other government and army officials offered prayers for Qadir in Kabul's Wazir Akbar Khan mosque.

To ensure the security of the President, hundreds of Interior Ministry and police troops with machine guns guarded the area.

The two gunman who shot and killed the vice president escaped.

Ten security guards have been arrested for negligence and another two men, who were picked up in a car that resembled the getaway car, were being questioned.

Meanwhile, international peacekeepers were determined to prevent more violence.

The commander of the International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF, Turkish Maj. Gen. Hilmi Akin Zorlu said in a statement read out at a press briefing (by a junior officer) that his 5,000 soldiers in the capital were on high alert as a precaution against "such a terrible crime happening again."

International peacekeepers agreed Monday to join the investigation into the weekend slaying, as speculation mounted that the killing had more to do with vendettas and business deals than with plots to undermine the government.

Deadlocked in its probe, President Hamid Karzai's government on Monday asked the 19-nation peacekeeping force to help track down the killers.

Qadir was both Minister of Public Works and Governor of Nangarhar province, a relatively rich province because of its trade route to Pakistan and its lucrative opium poppy cultivation.

He was formerly a guerrilla commander in the war against the Soviets in the 1980s.

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