KABUL - A BROTHER of President Hamid Karzai on Monday rejected long-standing suggestions that he was involved in Afghanistan's opium and heroin trade, challenging authorities to prove the claim.

Mr Ahmad Wali Karzai also said he would take legal action against a US newspaper that printed new allegations against him at the weekend, citing Afghans and unnamed US officials.

Mr Karzai called a press conference in the southern city of Kandahar, where he heads the influential provincial council, to reject the New York Times article.

'If anyone has any proof or documents against me, they should step forward and I am ready to go to court,' he said.

Such allegations, which have been swirling for years, were being used to defame the president, he told reporters.

'Now that my brother is the president and he has become an international figure, there are people who would like to defame him, to put pressure on him,' he said.

'Karzai does not have a background of involvement in war crimes, he is not involved in drugs, so they try to allege that I am involved to pressure him.'

He told AFP separately that he was being used as a 'punching bag'.

'This is a ghost story, a baseless story - whenever the international community has some kind of dispute (with Karzai), they are coming after me.'

He said he 'challenged' authorities to investigate.

'They should bring me to court and if I am found guilty, they should send me to prison ... make an example of me,' he said. -- AFP