Ahmad Wali Karzai: From waiter to “King of Kandahar”

by PETER GOODSPEED

Eighteen years ago, as manager of a family-run Afghan restaurant on North Halsted Street in the Chicago’s Wrigleyville district, Ahmed Wali Karzai spent his days serving aushak (leek dumplings) and lamb dwopiaza, tenderloin sauteed with yellow split-peas and onions.

Today, the chubby 49-year-old half-brother of Hamid Karzai, the Afghan President, is the most powerful man in southern Afghanistan. The “King of Kandahar” has built up a shadowy political and commercial empire that touches virtually every institution and individual of influence.

Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan for more