Clinton defends Karzai's remarks

Amidst a war of words between the two countries, the US came out in defence of Afghan President Hamid Karzai calling him a valuable partner and said American officials need to be sensitive while making comments on the war-torn country. Defence Secretary Robert Gates said General Stanley McChrystal, who is the head of US and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation-led troops in Afghanistan, had excellent relations with the Afghan President.

"I think we frankly have to be sensitive in our own comments about President Karzai, in terms of being mindful that he is the embodiment of sovereignty for Afghanistan, also in the way we treat him," Gates told ABC news in an interview. "This (Karzai) is a man who's, first of all, a political leader. He has domestic audiences as well as foreign audiences. What I can tell you is that General McChrystal continues to meet with him regularly. They have a very positive relationship," he said.

Gates said McChrystal got very good cooperation from President Karzai. "I think that Afghans are very concerned about their sovereignty. They are very concerned that it be clear who the President of Afghanistan is and that he be treated with respect, because he is the representative of the people of Afghanistan and their sovereignty," Gates said. The comments come amidst a war of words between the US and Afghanistan over Karzai's outburst against western countries accusing them of meddling with Afghan's internal affairs.

"General McChrystal feels that this is a man he can work easily

with. He has taken him to Kandahar. He has indicated he's willing to go to Kandahar repeatedly for the shuras, as the Kandahar campaign gets under way," he said. In a separate interview, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the war of words between the Obama Administration and the Karzai Government was unfortunate. "I have to say that some of these outlandish claims that are being made and accusations that are being hurled are really unfortunate. You know, this is a country that is under enormous pressure. This is a leader who is under enormous pressure," she said.

Clinton said US considers Karzai as a reliable partner. "We know how difficult it is sometimes for foreign leaders, not only in Afghanistan but elsewhere in the world, to separate our free press and everything that it says and everything that it claims from what our government policy is,"Clinton said. "It is difficult, when you go in to see a leader on a regular basis, as our military and civilian representatives do in Kabul, and there's some article making some outlandish claim, and a leader often thinks, well, it wouldn't be printed if the government wasn't behind it. "And so we do have some explaining to do, if you will. And that's not just true in Afghanistan. We see that in many different countries around the world," she observed. PTI LKJ "I wonder sometimes how anybody can cope with the kind of relentless stress that you face after having been in some military activity or war footing for 30 years, which is what the reality is in Afghanistan," Clinton said.