AN AFGHAN OFFICIAL CLOSE TO President Hamid Karzai has blamed British intelligence officials for allowing a Taliban imposture access to high-level peace negotiations with the Afghan government.

A man who allegedly pretended to be one of the Taliban’s most senior commanders, Mullah Mansour, participated in peace negotiations with Afghan authorities.

The Washington Post reported that NATO had flown the man via British military aircraft to attend meetings in Kabul.

Afghan President Karzai denied he ever met with Mansour, saying allegations of an impostor were propaganda spread by the foreign press.

Now, Karzai’s chief of staff Mohammad Umer Daudzai says that unidentified British officials brought the fake Mansour to meet Karzai over the summer.

The BBC reports that suspicions arose over Mansour’s identity when an Afghan who knew him did not recognise the man posing as him.

He had been allegedly paid at least $100,000 to attend the negotiations, but has now disappeared, according to the Telegraph. Afghan intelligence says he is actually a Pakistani shopkeeper.

American officials claim they were skeptical of the man from the start because their intelligence suggested Mansour would be inches taller than the man who showed up as Mansour.

The New York Times reports that British authorities have not responded to allegations they introduced the impostor to the Afghan officials.

The BBC’s reporter in Kabul, Paul Wood, says that as British policy is not to comment on such operational matters, “all we have is the Afghan government’s version of events, as given to the Washington Post. That version smells of people trying to pass the blame. There may be enough blame to share around: the CIA, MI6 and the Afghans themselves”.