[R-G] Karzai is US stooge says Afghan deputy president

[Anthony Fenton]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/4742641/Karzai-is-US-stooge-says-Afghan-deputy-president.html

Karzai is US stooge says Afghan deputy president
Afghanistan's president and vice-president accused each other of being  
US stooges during a recent cabinet meeting which degenerated into a  
furious row, The Sunday Telegraph has learnt.

By Ben Farmer in Kabul and Dean Nelson
Last Updated: 6:45PM GMT 21 Feb 2009

In a clash which showed how fragile the Western-backed government has  
become, President Hamid Karzai was labelled a corrupt incompetent by  
his own understudy, Ahmad Zia Massoud. He responded in kind, saying Mr  
Massoud was part of an American conspiracy to oust him.

The ferocity of the infighting reflects a collapse in support for the  
Afghan president - both within the Afghan coalitions who have  
supported him since his election in 2004, and among his backers in  
Britain, the United States, the European Union and NATO. During a  
visit to Kabul last week, Foreign Secretary David Miliband said that  
British financial and military support for the Afghanistan would only  
continue if Mr Karzai's government raised its game.

Tensions erupted after Mr Massoud made a speech blaming greed and  
corruption in the Karzai administration for the hunger and poverty in  
the country. He also said that Mr Karzai's plan to delay the May  
election until August 20 and extend his term until then was  
unconstitutional.

The row lasted for ten minutes and had to be broken up by cabinet  
colleagues, who eventually moved the men onto the meeting's business  
agenda.

In launching such a public attack, Mr Massoud has joined a growing  
chorus of senior Afghan politicians questioning the legitimacy of  
President Karzai's intention to remain in power after his term  
formally ends in May. As the leader of the most powerful family in  
northern Afghanistan, and the brother of Ahmed Shah Massoud, a  
legendary Mujahideen general, Mr Massoud's comments are not to be  
lightly dismissed.

The Afghan constitution states elections should be held by late April,  
with the president's term finishing on May 21. However, the Karzai- 
appointed independent election commission has said preparations cannot  
be finalised in time for April and the poll must wait three months for  
US troop reinforcements to bring security.

Opposition MPs fear that if President Karzai remains in power during  
the three month delay, he will use the state apparatus to bolster his  
campaign. Instead they are calling for a caretaker government led by  
someone not running for president.

President Karzai has said he does not know whether his duty ends on  
May 21, or in December, five years after he was sworn in.

"I'm consulting on this issue and I will appear and announce my  
decision," he declared recently.

His opponents blame the international community for preparing to prop  
up an unconstitutional government. The National Front, the main  
opposition alliance, is expected to bring its supporters onto the  
streets in protest when the snows melt.

Senior Western diplomats confess they have been surprised by the  
strength of feeling in parliament and fear political upheaval could  
destabilise the country during the pending Taliban summer offensive.  
One official said the coming months will bring the "toughest test yet"  
of the country's Parliament and constitution.

"The biggest fear is what would be the legitimacy of this government  
after its term has finished," said Sayed Mahmoud Hussamudin Al- 
Gailani, a national assembly member from Ghazni province.

He said an illegitimate government would lend weight to Taliban  
propaganda and that the row with Mr Massoud was damaging to both the  
president and Afghanistan.

Mr Massoud made his comments during a speech to commemorate the  
Russian withdraw from Afghanistan. This week he also criticised the  
president for keeping a stranglehold on decision making and said the  
vice presidents were largely symbolic.

"Only the decisions and recommendations which are according to the  
president's desire are put into practice, otherwise, they are kept on  
hold," he said.

However Karzai supporters say removing the president prematurely would  
lead to a dangerous power vacuum that insurgents could exploit.

"In my opinion three months does not make a huge difference," said  
Safia Siddiqi, an MP for Nangahar province. "It's against the  
constitution, but the constitution is not the Holy Koran."