US's Rice visits Afghanistan to bolster Karzai

KABUL, June 28 (Reuters) US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice heaped praise on President Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan today throwing Washington's support behind a leader struggling to hold back resurgent Taliban forces.

The top US diplomat, who flew from Pakistan to meet Karzai in Kabul, pledged unswerving support for the president whose popularity has slumped as he struggles to stem the violence and improve people's lives.

Rice's trip could also help blunt criticism in a US election year from congressional Democrats that the Bush administration has ignored the militant threat in Afghanistan because it is focused on fighting insurgents in Iraq.

''I don't know anyone who is more admired and respected in the international community than President Karzai, for his strength, for his wisdom and for his courage to lead this country, first in defeat of the Taliban and now (in creating) a democratic and unified Afghanistan,'' Rice told a news conference.

Her main strategic goal in the Asia trip is to persuade Pakistan and Afghanistan to put aside bickering over Afghan complaints the Taliban get help in Pakistan and get them to work more closely in combating militants along their common border.

''We, Afghanistan and Pakistan are going to unify all our efforts, as we have done over the last several years, towards the goal of eliminating the threat of al Qaeda and the Taliban,'' she told a news conference in Islamabad yesterday after meeting President Pervez Musharraf on the first leg of her trip.

Two years ago, Afghanistan was held up as a US foreign policy success story following Karzai's election triumph.

But anti-US anti-Karzai riots rocked Kabul last month and violence in Afghanistan, especially in the south, is at its worst since the Taliban were driven from power in 2001, with more than 1,100 people killed since January.

''UNTIL VICTORY'' But Rice said the United States, though facing a determined enemy, was resolute.

''We are not going to tire, we are not going to leave. They should know that we are in this fight until it is victoriously concluded,'' she told the news conference with Karzai at his heavily guarded presidential palace.

Karzai, while acknowledging Afghanistan had problems such as drugs, weak institutions and the Taliban, said the achievements of his government and the international community were immense.

''We have won and we have won massively in Afghanistan,'' he said.

Upon arrival in Kabul, Rice travelled from the airport to the US embassy for meetings with US and NATO commanders.

Security was tight, with armed US security contractors in Rice's motorcade of sports utility vehicles.

Afghan police and troops were dotted along the route and passers-by showed little interest in the fast-moving motorcade.

The Taliban resurgence comes as the US-led coalition prepares to transfer command of southern Afghanistan to NATO-led peacekeepers at the end of July, and is seen as an attempt to weaken the resolve among alliance members.

Musharraf and Karzai have been at loggerheads over Afghan accusations that the Taliban get help from Pakistan, and Pakistan is worried by Kabul's friendship with rival India.

The United States, which has close to 23,000 troops in Afghanistan and is its biggest benefactor, has also said Taliban fighters are coming from Pakistan.

REUTERS SRS VC1425