Karzai Calls Clinton, Backs Off

Afghan president 'clarifies' his knock on international community
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Apr 3, 2010 7:17 AM CDT
Karzai Calls Clinton, Backs Off
Afghan President Hamid Karzai sits in front of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as they pose for a photo at the Afghanistan Conference in London, Thursday, Jan. 28, 2010.   (AP Photo/Matt Dunham, Pool)

A day after accusing the US of "vast fraud" that nearly denied him a second term, Afghan President Hamid Karzai called Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to back off. The 25-minute phone call came as the Obama administration labeled his comments "genuinely troubling" and dispatched its ambassador to Afghanistan to "clarify what he meant."

"President Karzai reaffirmed his commitment to the partnership between our two countries," a State Department spokesman said, indicating that Clinton told Karzai that they should focus on common aims for stabilizing Afghanistan. "Suggestions that somehow the international community was responsible for any irregularities in the recent election is preposterous." (More Hamid Karzai stories.)

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