AFP
09/02/2010
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Afghans wait to withdraw money from the Kabul Bank. (AFP)

KABUL — Long queues formed at branches of Kabul Bank in cities across Afghanistan Thursday, a day after authorities denied allegations of corruption at the country's biggest bank.

Major US newspapers said the central bank had replaced the two top executives at Kabul Bank, partly owned by President Hamid Karzai's brother, and ordered its chairman to hand over 160 million dollars' worth of luxury property purchased in Dubai for himself and for cronies.

However, central bank chief Abdul Qadir Fitrat said on Wednesday that the pair had not been forced from office but had resigned after the introduction of new rules forbidding shareholders from holding senior positions.

"The central bank, the government of Afghanistan, is standing behind Kabul Bank and will never allow it to collapse," Fitrat told a news conference.

"Kabul Bank has no liquidity problems. Right now the Kabul Bank is functioning all over the country. Kabul Bank will never have liquidity problems in the future, inshallah (God willing)," he said.

His reassurances appeared to have little affect Thursday, as depositors gathered at branches to withdraw their money.

At the bank's head office in central Kabul, hundreds of people had gathered in the main banking chamber by midday (0730 GMT) in the hope of withdrawing their funds.

Long queues also formed at branches in the commercial city of Mazar-i-Sharif, in the north, in Herat in the east, and the southern city of Kandahar, AFP correspondents said.

Kabul Bank officials were not available for immediate comment, though one bank official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said its executives were meeting President Karzai at his palace.

As the ticket machine for those queuing up at the bank's head office in Kabul issued its 900th ticket, a 23-year-old man who asked not to be named said: "I want all my money. I want to withdraw all my money."

Asked why he want to withdraw his funds after authorities had guaranteed deposits, he said: "I don't trust them. I'm sure it has problems."

"The bank is finished," said another depositor with the bank. "The government can make assurances, but the problem is that no one here trusts the government."

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