THE GUARDIAN: President tells foreign partners to respect his country's independence
The Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, today warned the international community not to meddle in the government of his country as it prepares to go to the polls for presidential elections this summer.
Speaking alongside the Nato secretary general, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, at a news conference in Kabul, Karzai said the government's foreign partners should respect his country's independence.
"Afghanistan … will never be a puppet state," he said.
The president faces a battle for re-election in August, with Afghanistan embroiled in a Taliban-led insurgency and his government being criticised by the US and other nations as inefficient and corrupt.
As the new US administration shifts the focus from Iraq to Afghanistan, the US president, Barack Obama, has also ordered a review of strategy in the region.
The results of the review are expected to be revealed later this month.
In response to the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan, Obama has sent thousands of extra troops to the country's south – the Taliban's heartland – and urged Nato allies to do more. >>> Associated Press | Wednesday, March 18, 2009
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