Taliban has claimed responsibility for shooting death of Ahmed Wali Karzai, who once ran Helmand Restaurant in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood.
Before the half-brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai was head of Kandahar's Provincial Council, he was a powerful businessman in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood.
Ahmed Wali Karzai ran Helmand Restaurant, which, until the late 90s, occupied the building at 3201 N. Halsted where Jack's on Halsted now does business.
Karzai was killed Tuesday by an assassin's bullet at his home in Kandahar. The Taliban has claimed responsibility.
In the wake of his death, some say Karzai -- AWK -- was Mafia-like and involved in drug trafficking and corruption. Others said he was a bright man with a "prince-like" quality.
"He was a classy gentleman to do business with and just -- he cared about us. He cared about what we were going to do here, that we were going to be successful and everything was going to be OK," said said restaurateur Jack Jones.
"Our attorney called six months after we bought the place and said, 'Turn on the TV,' and there he was, standing behind his brother, the president of Afghanistan," he said.
Ahmed Wali Karzai spoke fondly of his time in Chicago, according to documents released by Wikileaks. But he played a much larger role for the U.S. and NATO forces who relied on him to bring local leaders and the Taliban to the negotiating table.
