WASHINGTON, June 29 (UPI) -- The governor of Afghanistan's central bank said he resigned due to threats against his life in retaliation for his probe of corruption at the troubled bank.
Abul Qadeer Fitrat, currently in the United States, told CNN he resigned from the Kabul Bank because there was "credible information from credible sources" about retribution against him after he called for a "public and transparent open prosecution" of fraudulent loans extended by the bank, allegedly to well-connected businessmen, ministers and others in the government of President Hamid Karzai.
"I wanted public prosecution under the eyes of the international community," he told CNN.
In September, depositors began a run on the bank, which handled salary payments for thousands of Afghan soldiers, police and public workers. The bank run followed allegations of corruption stemming from hundreds of millions of dollars in loans, some made without interest or proper collateral or repayment schedules.
"Corruption is happening at the highest levels. I do not deny that there are honest ministers in the cabinet of the government of Afghanistan -- their numbers are limited," Fitrat told CNN.
He said it was after he raised the issue in the parliament that "conspiracies against my life began."
CNN reported the Afghan government has issued a warrant for Fitrat's arrest, which he dismissed as "nonsense."
Fitrat told CNN he has permanent resident status in the United States and has no plans to return to Afghanistan.
The International Monetary Fund has been seeking to reform Afghanistan's financial system but The Wall Street Journal said Fitrat's departure would be a setback for those efforts, which require dissolving the Kabul Bank. The Afghan government has yet to approve the IMF plan submitted in April, the report said.
