White House Troubled by Karzai Comments Against West
VOA News 02 April 2010
The Obama administration says Afghan President Hamid Karzai's accusation that the international community was responsible for the fraud in last year's presidential election is "troubling."
A White House spokesman, Robert Gibbs, told reporters Friday that Washington is seeking clarification from Mr. Karzai about his remarks.
On Thursday, the Afghan leader told a gathering of election commission workers in Kabul that foreigners are to blame for widespread fraud during the August 20 presidential vote.
The Afghan leader singled out the head of the European Union's election observation mission, Philippe Mirollon, as well as former U.N. Deputy Chief Peter Galbraith, who was fired after a dispute with his boss on how to deal with fraud allegations.
Galbraith dismissed Mr. Karzai's charges as "preposterous." In an interview with VOA, he said the comments suggest the Afghan leader is "increasingly divorced from reality."
Mr. Karzai's main rival in last year's election, Abdullah Abdullah, accused Mr. Karzai of undermining the war against the Taliban with his remarks.
Abdullah told reporters in Kabul Friday that Mr. Karzai's comments were intended to be "populist" and "anti-foreigner." He said he is worried about the president's behavior, describing it as erratic.
In New York, U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said the world body has a record of what was said and done in response to allegations of fraud in the Afghan elections, and that the U.N. stands by its record.
President Karzai was forced into a runoff election when a U.N.-backed commission threw out nearly a third of his ballots due to irregularities. A second vote never took place because Mr. Karzai's rival dropped out of the race.
On Wednesday, Afghan lawmakers rejected President Karzai's bid to appoint three of the five members of the country's Electoral Complaints Commission. The commission played a key role in rejecting fraudulent ballots that benefited Mr. Karzai.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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