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Obama backs Karzai, but says still needs pressuring

15 April 2010 23:16 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. President Barack Obama said he was confident Afghan President Hamid Karzai can stabilize his war-torn nation but that Washington would continue to press him to introduce essential reforms to improve living standards, APA reports quoting Reuters.

In an interview with Australian television, Obama also said Karzai was capable of being a strong partner with the United States in the fight against Al Qaeda.

Obama’s comments seek to end a war of words between Kabul and Washington that have tested ties in recent weeks.

"I think that President Karzai is capable of leading his country into the 21st century and stabilizing it," Obama told Australian Broadcasting Corp television’s ’The 7.30 Report’ in a recorded interview from Washington broadcast on Thursday.

"But what we have said is that we can’t succeed unless President Karzai moves forward on the reforms that are so necessary for Afghans to see a real investment in their lives day-to-day and improvement in their lives day-to-day."

Obama said the United States was not in Afghanistan to support one man, but to secure U.S. national security.

"We think it’s necessary for the world’s security that we dismantle Al Qaeda and its affiliate networks, and we need a strong partner in that process, I think Karzai has the capacity to be that strong partner," said Obama.

"I think that we’re going to have to keep on both respecting the sovereignty of Afghanistan and Karzai, as the duly elected leader, but continue to put pressure on him to make the kinds of reforms and improvements that will not only mean success for us but also ultimately success for him."

Karzai sparked a row with Washington recently by accusing Western countries and officials of perpetrating election fraud in Afghanistan, in comments the White House called "disturbing" and untrue, and the State Department called "preposterous.

Karzai also said there was a fine line between cooperation and occupation, and that Afghans had to see that their government was not made up of "puppets".

Tensions between Karzai and the West come at a particularly awkward time, when the U.S.-led force is planning the biggest operation of the war to regain full control of the southern city of Kandahar, Karzai’s home town and heartland of the Taliban.

"I do think is he’s a proud man, I think he has a strong sense of Afghan nationalism, and he’s under a very difficult circumstance," said Obama.

"I think that you’ve seen actually some reforms in the Karzai government that allow us to then actually get civilian help to ordinary Afghans and that then builds trust in the government.

"I think we’ve got some positive trends but there is no doubt that this is a difficult task. We need to begin drawing down our troops in 2011, and start handing over more and more responsibility to the Afghans."