KABUL (AP) The brother of Afghan president Hamid Karzai is denying reports that he's been on the CIA payroll for years.

The New York Times, citing current and former American officials, reported yesterday the CIA pays Karzai for a variety of services. They include helping to recruit an Afghan paramilitary force that operates at the CIA's direction in and around Kandahar.

But Ahmed Wali Karzai calls the report "ridiculous." He told The Associated Press in Afghanistan today that he works "with the Americans, the Canadians, the British, anyone who asks for my help." He says the CIA does its own recruitment.

The Times report says the CIA's ties to Ahmed Wali Karzai, who is a suspected player in the country's illegal opium trade, have created deep divisions within the Obama administration.

Ahmed Wali Karzai denies the alleged drug ties.

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