KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- U.S. diplomats think some of the most powerful figures in Kandahar are not interested in democracy or the rule of law, and may have worked against attempts to deliver both to the Afghan people, according to Wikileaks documents.

It's one of the many claims arising from the unprecedented leak of U.S. diplomatic cables by the whistle-blower website which is causing shock waves around the world.

Canadian politicians, soldiers and aid workers agree that their mission to Afghanistan is to bring representative government and justice to a people who have long been crushed under the boots of the Soviets, local warlords or the Taliban. Yet, the classified cables released by Wikileaks noted that the younger half-brother of President Hamid Karzai advocated a return to the old tribal system of governance and law — something a majority of Afghans see as corrupt and a relic of the past.

Canada has invested heavily in the training of police, lawyers and judges. It has contributed funding for elections and set up programs to encourage good governance. Ahmed Wali Karzai, who is the kingpin of Kandahar politics as head of the provincial council, questioned the need for all of that in meetings with U.S. and Canadian civilian representatives.

"Democracy was new for Afghanistan, and that people in the region did not understand the point of having one election, let alone two," Ahmed Wali Karzai was quoted as saying in a cable dated Sept. 23, 2009. The diplomats quoted him as saying: "The people do not like change. They think, the president is alive, and everything is fine. Why have an election?" Karzai turned down a request for an interview Monday, as did Canada's civilian representative in Kandahar, Tim Martin.

The document restated a long-held allegation that Ahmed Wali Karzai — known by his initials AWK — was "corrupt and a narcotics trafficker."

A senior military officer in Ottawa, speaking on background, said throughout the mission Canadian military and civilian authorities searched for evidence to back up the claims, but came up empty-handed. "We tried real hard to find something, but we couldn't," said the officer, who requested anonymity.

The diplomatic report accused the president's younger half-brother of intervening to keep a district police chief from being sacked last year. He allegedly tried to muscle his way into some of the lucrative Canadian redevelopment contracts.

"AWK is understood to have a stake in private security contracting, and has aggressively lobbied the Canadians to have his security services retained for the Dahla Dam refurbishment," said the cable. "Both he and the governor have tried to exert control over how contracts are awarded in the province," said the cable, which claimed there could be a conflict of interest.

Gov. Tooryalai Wesa is an Afghan-Canadian who returned to Kandahar almost two years ago.

Karzai's remarks about democracy — made to U.S. envoy Frank Ruggiero and Canada's former representative Ben Rowswell — came in the aftermath of last year's presidential election, which was rife with abuse and stuffed ballot boxes.

Interviews with Kandahar residents, especially business owners, suggest that the idea of a western-style elected representation and justice is preferable to the old way of tribal politics.

"I favour voting and electing," said Abdul Jabar, 50, who operates a fruit-vending push cart in the city.

But Karzai told the U.S. diplomats that the province should "re-establish and empower district shuras (meetings), instead of judges or police, to settle local disputes."

He was quoted in the Wikileaks documents as saying: "You can easily bribe the chief of police or a judge, but you can't bribe 50 elders."

But Jabar argued that tribes competing for largess and bumping up against one another has created political and social chaos in the country.

"That was an old-fashioned way and not an effective way to elect your leaders," he said.

The alienation of certain tribes has in itself inflamed the situation in Kandahar. When the Karzais came to power in 2002, members of the powerful Noorzai clan were alienated. Many of them chose to take up with the Taliban in the volatile districts of Panjwaii and Zharey. Nari Kakar, 42, a restaurant owner in Kandahar, said more needs to be done in the way of political reconciliation with the Noorzai, if the war is to end.