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| Afghan Vice President’s Return Thwarted as Plane Is Turned Back | Afghan Vice President’s Return Thwarted as Plane Is Turned Back |
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| KABUL, Afghanistan — During nearly two months of de facto exile in Turkey, Afghanistan’s embattled vice president, Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, hastily formed a new coalition of the discontented. On Monday, he tried to return to Afghanistan to advance their cause. | KABUL, Afghanistan — During nearly two months of de facto exile in Turkey, Afghanistan’s embattled vice president, Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, hastily formed a new coalition of the discontented. On Monday, he tried to return to Afghanistan to advance their cause. |
| But as hundreds of supporters waited late into the night at an airport in northern Afghanistan, the small private plane carrying Mr. Dostum, an ex-warlord, was denied permission to land on orders from the central government, according to several Afghan and Western officials. | But as hundreds of supporters waited late into the night at an airport in northern Afghanistan, the small private plane carrying Mr. Dostum, an ex-warlord, was denied permission to land on orders from the central government, according to several Afghan and Western officials. |
| The episode will probably deepen Afghanistan’s political crisis, testing the limits of Mr. Dostum, a politician who has been volatile in the past and who has threatened to turn his wrath against President Ashraf Ghani’s government, which he helped bring to power but now accuses of marginalizing him. | The episode will probably deepen Afghanistan’s political crisis, testing the limits of Mr. Dostum, a politician who has been volatile in the past and who has threatened to turn his wrath against President Ashraf Ghani’s government, which he helped bring to power but now accuses of marginalizing him. |
| Mr. Ghani faces a host of problems. He faces a resurgent Taliban across the country, and some of the country’s major politicians, including his own supporters, have turned against him over what they consider his increasing monopolization of power. Mr. Ghani has brushed many of their protests aside, saying they were merely complaining about steps he has taken to overhaul his government that cut through their old ways of patronage. | Mr. Ghani faces a host of problems. He faces a resurgent Taliban across the country, and some of the country’s major politicians, including his own supporters, have turned against him over what they consider his increasing monopolization of power. Mr. Ghani has brushed many of their protests aside, saying they were merely complaining about steps he has taken to overhaul his government that cut through their old ways of patronage. |
| Supporters of Mr. Dostum who gathered at the airport in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif to greet him were frustrated when he was turned away. “There were about 500 to 1,000 people waiting for him, and we waited for three hours,” said Raees Abdul Khaliq, a member of the Balkh provincial council who was at the airport on Monday night. “The central government, against all the laws of Afghanistan and the world, against the fact that the president cannot rule an ordinary citizen — let alone the vice president — a criminal until proven by a court, told the plane not to land.” | Supporters of Mr. Dostum who gathered at the airport in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif to greet him were frustrated when he was turned away. “There were about 500 to 1,000 people waiting for him, and we waited for three hours,” said Raees Abdul Khaliq, a member of the Balkh provincial council who was at the airport on Monday night. “The central government, against all the laws of Afghanistan and the world, against the fact that the president cannot rule an ordinary citizen — let alone the vice president — a criminal until proven by a court, told the plane not to land.” |
| The episode was confirmed privately by people close to Mr. Dostum as well as officials close to Atta Muhammad Noor, the powerful governor of Balkh Province. Mr. Noor, a onetime rival of Mr. Dostum, recently joined his new alliance of politicians united in anger at Mr. Ghani’s coalition government. A Western official said Mr. Noor called the commander of NATO coalition forces in the north, seeking permission for Mr. Dostum’s aircraft to land, but was told that the matter was up to the central government, not the coalition forces. | The episode was confirmed privately by people close to Mr. Dostum as well as officials close to Atta Muhammad Noor, the powerful governor of Balkh Province. Mr. Noor, a onetime rival of Mr. Dostum, recently joined his new alliance of politicians united in anger at Mr. Ghani’s coalition government. A Western official said Mr. Noor called the commander of NATO coalition forces in the north, seeking permission for Mr. Dostum’s aircraft to land, but was told that the matter was up to the central government, not the coalition forces. |
| However, the offices of both Mr. Dostum and Mr. Noor issued statements denying the incident, which were interpreted by many as face-saving rather than factual. Mr. Noor’s office said the plane’s passengers were Turkish “special guests” of the governor and did not include the vice president. | However, the offices of both Mr. Dostum and Mr. Noor issued statements denying the incident, which were interpreted by many as face-saving rather than factual. Mr. Noor’s office said the plane’s passengers were Turkish “special guests” of the governor and did not include the vice president. |
| A senior government official said that the authorities in Kabul, the capital, became suspicious of the small plane, which was said to be carrying seven businessmen. The authorities requested that the plane land in Kabul for processing before going to Mazar-i-Sharif, but the pilot’s reluctance to comply confirmed their suspicion that Mr. Dostum was aboard, the official said. | A senior government official said that the authorities in Kabul, the capital, became suspicious of the small plane, which was said to be carrying seven businessmen. The authorities requested that the plane land in Kabul for processing before going to Mazar-i-Sharif, but the pilot’s reluctance to comply confirmed their suspicion that Mr. Dostum was aboard, the official said. |
| Mr. Dostum has been in conflict with the government for months, most recently over a criminal investigation into accusations that he and his bodyguards kidnapped and sexually assaulted a political rival. The vice president is becoming one of the biggest headaches of Mr. Ghani’s presidency. | |
| As it became clear that Mr. Dostum would not answer to the Afghan legal system on the sexual assault charges, defying multiple requests by the attorney general’s office, Mr. Ghani’s team sought to disregard Mr. Dostum and drive him into self-imposed exile in Turkey. That approach was also used in 2008, when Mr. Dostum was accused of a similar assault against another rival. Mr. Dostum left for Turkey on May 19. | |
| “This is from the president’s own mistakes,” said Humayoon Humayoon, the deputy speaker of the Afghan Parliament who until recently was a staunch supporter of Mr. Ghani. “If Dostum was a bad person, if he was a killer, if he was accused of human rights abuses, then why did you chose him as your vice president?” | “This is from the president’s own mistakes,” said Humayoon Humayoon, the deputy speaker of the Afghan Parliament who until recently was a staunch supporter of Mr. Ghani. “If Dostum was a bad person, if he was a killer, if he was accused of human rights abuses, then why did you chose him as your vice president?” |
| Mr. Humayoon said he feared that the government’s actions against Mr. Dostum, who is supported by ethnic Uzbeks living in the north, would increase the political tensions to a breaking point unless Mr. Ghani and his NATO allies could persuade Turkey to keep Mr. Dostum in exile. | Mr. Humayoon said he feared that the government’s actions against Mr. Dostum, who is supported by ethnic Uzbeks living in the north, would increase the political tensions to a breaking point unless Mr. Ghani and his NATO allies could persuade Turkey to keep Mr. Dostum in exile. |
| “If Dostum enters Afghanistan, it could mean the end announcement of this government,” Mr. Humayoon said. “If Dostum doesn’t return, then his political alliance is broken.” | “If Dostum enters Afghanistan, it could mean the end announcement of this government,” Mr. Humayoon said. “If Dostum doesn’t return, then his political alliance is broken.” |
| Mr. Dostum’s new political alliance, which was announced last month in Ankara, the Turkish capital, has a strong base in northern Afghanistan. Members of the alliance have been working on a grand introduction for the alliance in Mazar-i-Sharif. | Mr. Dostum’s new political alliance, which was announced last month in Ankara, the Turkish capital, has a strong base in northern Afghanistan. Members of the alliance have been working on a grand introduction for the alliance in Mazar-i-Sharif. |
| That alliance is not the only opposition Mr. Ghani, who has the backing of the West, is facing. Charges of political mismanagement have been raised by many groups across the country. | That alliance is not the only opposition Mr. Ghani, who has the backing of the West, is facing. Charges of political mismanagement have been raised by many groups across the country. |
| Last week, about 50 members of Parliament gathered in southern Kandahar Province to denounce the president’s politics. Gen. Abdul Raziq, the contentious police chief of Kandahar, who attended the gathering, said the government was “taken hostage by a few, like the dark days of Mullah Omar,” once the supreme leader of the Taliban. | Last week, about 50 members of Parliament gathered in southern Kandahar Province to denounce the president’s politics. Gen. Abdul Raziq, the contentious police chief of Kandahar, who attended the gathering, said the government was “taken hostage by a few, like the dark days of Mullah Omar,” once the supreme leader of the Taliban. |