Afghanistan's Karzai increasingly beset by problems

Kabul, Jan 29: Few people would envy Hamid Karzai. The Afghanpresident finds himself grappling with maintaining stability in thecapital while fighting grows ever bloodier in the south. He must alsosatisfy the conflicting demands of his countrymen and his foreignallies.

At the same time, the beleaguered leader must deal with powerful neighbour Pakistan, with whom relations are often testy.

Asked recently if he would like Karzai's job, one key ally in Kabul replied bluntly: ''No''.

The reluctance stems not so much from loyalty as the slipperycomplexities of Afghan politics and the increasingly tough jobconfronting the head of one of the world's most dangerous states.

Five years after US led forces ousted the hardline Talibangovernment, Afghans complain Karzai and the West have failed to deliveron their promises of a better life, the Taliban are at their strongestand the fighting is at its worst.

More than 4,000 people -- a quarter of them civilians -- werekilled last year and suicide bombings, once almost unheard of, haveskyrocketed as insurgents copy tactics from Iraq.

Both the Taliban and the United States say the coming spring after the traditional winter lull in fighting will be bloody.

Karzai's Western allies want him to establish a moderate Islamicstate and put in place Western-style democracy and freedom, but suchefforts draw criticism from many at home.

Too Soft?

Critics say he is too soft and an appeaser but accordingto Habibullat Rafi, a writer and academic, Karzai cannot afford toupset either side.

''He has dealt with the problems too much through convenience andthat is why he gets all the blame for whatever has gone wrong,'' saysRafi.

Many dismiss Karzai as ''the mayor of Kabul'' because his writlargely does not extend beyond the limits of the capital or the maincities.

Even in Kabul the president, who became a father for the firsttime at 49 this month, rarely moves outside the heavily fortifiedmarbled palace.

Some also see a man who has spent most of his life outsideAfghanistan as a sellout to his Pashtun tribe, the dominant ethnicgroup and the core of Taliban support in Afghanistan and among Pashtunsacross the border in Pakistan.

Leaders from other ethnic groups who helped US-led forcesoverthrow the Taliban often hold high positions in Karzai's government.

''Look at the government set-up -- all the key positions are run bynon-Pashtuns,'' says 40-year-old hawker Raaz Mohammad. But afterdecades of foreign intervention and civil war, Karzai must treadcarefully to stop the country sliding back into ethnic confrontation,says Abdul Hamid Mubariz, a former deputy information minister and nowan analyst.

Karzai's supporters point out he has little control over the morethan 40,000 foreign soldiers and the way promised -- but poorlydelivered -- aid and development money is spent.

Washington chose Karzai, the son of a powerful Pashtun clan chief,as interim leader after it ousted the Taliban in 2001 for failing tosurrender Osama bin Laden over the September. 11 attacks.

A soft-spoken man with a salt-and-pepper beard, he was confirmedas president in an open election in 2004, the first direct anddemocratic poll in Afghanistan's turbulent history.

A critical issue is closing the porous border with Pakistan, wherethe mainly Pashtun Taliban enjoy much local support. Karzai wants hisallies to put more pressure on Islamabad to stop the Taliban and othermilitants operating on both sides of the border.

Drugs Boom

Pakistan says it already does as much as it can andrejects accusations from Kabul that it still supports the Taliban.

The president's efforts to coax Taliban leaders into talks and todisarm a myriad of tribal, political and other groups with the help ofthe United Nations have also sparked opposition from powerful warlords.

Efforts by Karzai, the United States and allies to combat theillegal opium trade have failed to stop production rocketing in theworld's major producer -- up 60 per cent last year.

Part of that money is fuelling the mounting insurgency, government ministers and foreign diplomats say.

Karzai is also under fire at home and abroad for not doing enough to tackle rampant graft.

But Afghan ministers are also bitterly critical of the failure offoreign countries to deliver promised aid, and of the sums of moneythat get lost along the way.

Karzai wept recently as he spoke of how much his people hadsuffered during almost three decades of fighting. But the Talibanaccused him of shedding ''crocodile tears'', saying he could do more ifhe wanted to and urging him to eject foreign troops. '' ''I knoweverybody blames him, but there are others to take responsibilitytoo,'' Mubariz said.

Reuters>