Afghanistan stands at 'critical moment' - Clinton
04:48 19/11/2009 WASHINGTON, November 18 (RIA Novosti) - Afghanistan stands at a "critical moment" ahead of President Hamid Karzai's second term, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said.
"We stand at a critical moment on the eve of the inauguration of President Karzai's second term," she told the U.S. embassy staff in Kabul on Wednesday.
"There is now a clear window of opportunity for President Karzai and his government to make a new compact with the people of Afghanistan to demonstrate clearly that we will have accountability and tangible results that will improve the lives of the people who live throughout this magnificent country" Clinton went on.
She said the country's government has made some efforts to crack down on corruption and deal with worsening security, "but... not nearly enough to demonstrate a seriousness of purpose."
During the visit, Clinton also met with the top military commander for U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, who had earlier asked President Barack Obama to authorize sending up to 40,000 additional troops to Afghanistan to effectively fight the Taliban.
Clinton has arrived to Afghanistan from Beijing on her fourth visit, but first as the U.S. top diplomat. She is the most senior U.S. official to visit the country since the August 20 presidential elections, marred by reports of fraud.
The runoff was scheduled after Karzai, who was officially given 54.6% of the first-round vote, bowed to international pressure and accepted the findings of the UN-backed Electoral Complaints Commission, which said the election was tainted by wide-scale fraud.
Abdullah Abdullah, Karzai's only challenger in the November 7 runoff, but the former Afghan foreign minister announced that he would not take part in the second round due to the president's refusal to dismiss the nation's top election official and take other action to prevent fraud.
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