New Afghan chief in Marjah has criminal record

KABUL – The man chosen to be the fresh face of good Afghan governance in a town just seized from the Taliban has a violent criminal record in Germany, but Western officials said Saturday they are not pushing to oust him. Court records and news reports in Germany show that Abdul Zahir, the man appointed as the new civilian chief in Marjah, served part of a more than four-year prison sentence for stabbing his stepson in 1998. A U.S. official confirmed that he did serve time in Germany, though Zahir himself denies he committed any crime.