Washington, October 12: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the United States expects more from Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai if he wins a second term in office.
“Clearly we expect more, we’re going to be working towards more,” Clinton said in an interview with BBC radio on Monday.
During her visit to Europe, the top US diplomat also noted that Karzai had been very helpful on many fronts but made it clear that Washington expected more from him.
“We are very clear that if this election results in his being re-elected, there must be a new relationship between him and the people of Afghanistan… which are supporting the efforts in Afghanistan to stabilize and secure the country,” said Clinton.
Clinton made the remarks while the relations between the two countries have become tense over the very high number of Afghan civilian casualties by the US air strikes.
More than 1,500 civilians have been killed and many others wounded in the first six months of 2009, which shows a 24 percent increase compared to the same period last year, according to the latest UN report.
A final result from the first round of Afghanistan’s presidential election is expected this week after being held up by an investigation into fraud.
—–Agencies