Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, has admitted that there is tension between his government and the new US administration.The acknowledgement came in an interview to Al Jazeera's David Frost as the US special representative to Pakistan and Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, met high-level officials of the Afghan government.
Karzai also admitted that he has not heard from the US president since Barack Obama moved into the White House last month.After leading Afghanistan for over eight years, Karzai is now seen by many Western officials as part of the problem rather than one who can force through solutions.Obama is expected to approve the deployment of about 30,000 extra US troops to Afghanistan in the next few days, despite fears in some circles that the mistakes of the Soviet Union are being repeated.The deployment is seen as vital for securing presidential elections - only the second in Afghanistan's history - set for August 20 after being postponed for three months largely because of security concerns.
Karzai's fate
The comments by Karzai to Al Jazeera come as speculation grows over his political fate.Reporting from Kabul on Friday, Al Jazeera's Hamish MacDonald said Holbrooke was due to meet Afghanistan's defence and interior ministers before holding talks with Karzai on Saturday.
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