Karzai’s US trip billed as historic

A red carpet welcome awaits President Karzai when he arrives on Monday at a military airfield in Washington, his first trip to the US since being re-elected in a disputed vote last year.

The visit also comes amid a public rift between Karzai and his US counterpart Barack Obama, which both leaders are expected to work hard to put behind them.

The Afghan president is leading a large contingent of 10 ministers and several top officials on the four-day trip, at the invitation of Obama.

“It is a historic visit,” the Afghan ambassador to the US, Said Tayeb Jawad, told Pajhwok Afghan News.
Last month, Karzai accused the West of “widespread fraud” in last year’s disputed presidential election, in which he said foreign officials were trying to install a “puppet government” in Kabul. The Afghan leader also threatened to join the Taliban.

White House officials said the recent war of words between Karzai and Obama would be a thing of the past as the US president had personally requested that his Afghan counterpart be given a welcome fitting a head of state.

Richard Holbrooke, the special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, would meet Karzai at the airport instead of a junior official as has been protocol in the past.

“A lot of hard work both on the part of the Afghan and US government has gone into the preparation of the trip to make it truly successful. Karzai’s protocol in Washington will be very high,” Jawad, the ambassador, said.

Karzai is scheduled to meet Obama at the White House on Wednesday, when they are expected to discuss a number of issues, including how to talk to the Taliban. The meeting is scheduled to last for about three hours, following which the two presidents would address a joint press conference at the White House.

The two leaders are also expected to issue a joint statement at the end of the meeting.

“I am sure that they would talk about where we are in increasing security; where we are in training and equipping an Afghan national security force; and what needs to be done in the next year to improve all of that,” the White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, told reporters at a news conference.

“This visit is a very important opportunity to move forward, to provide some more momentum behind the strategy that we’re implementing and that, of course, president Karzai is implementing as it relates to his government and his people,” said Ben Rhodes, US deputy national security adviser.

Though Karzais official trip begins Tuesday morning with meetings at the US State Department with Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state; on Monday evening, Karzai and his delegation will attend a dinner at the official guesthouse of the US president.

On Thursday, Karzai will meet top US lawmakers and address a Washington-based think-tank along with Clinton. “The most important outcome of the trip would be to strengthen the enduring partnership between the United States and Afghanistan and seek specific ways to enhancing co-operation in the areas of security, development and governance,” Jawad said.