Afghan Leader Karzai Seeks Change, U.S. Confidence, Kerry Says

Oct. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai is willing to make Cabinet changes to bolster his government’s credibility and ease the strained relationship with the U.S., Senator John Kerry said.

Kerry, who spoke to Karzai by telephone yesterday morning and had lunch with CIA Director Leon Panetta on Oct. 29, said he doesn’t believe the president’s brother has a “direct relationship” with the CIA, as reported earlier this week in the New York Times.

Kerry expressed confidence in Karzai’s ability to recover from allegations that his government is corrupt and engaged in fraud in the first round of elections Aug. 20.

“I think he is prepared to embrace reforms,” Kerry, 65, said in an interview for Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital With Al Hunt,” airing this weekend. Hours after the interview, CNN reported yesterday that talks between Karzai and his election opponent had broken down, citing a Western person close to the Afghan leadership. Karzai’s rival may boycott the race, CNN said.

Kerry, in the interview, also distanced himself from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s public questioning of whether some Pakistani officials know the whereabouts of al- Qaeda during her visit to the country this week.

President Barack Obama is weighing strategy on Afghanistan and whether to send as many as 40,000 more troops that his top commander there, General Stanley McChrystal, has requested. The Obama administration has said a central question is whether the Afghan government can be a capable partner to take over the country’s security and manage its development after eight years of war.

‘Too Far, Too Fast’

Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat, said he didn’t know what Obama would decide and couldn’t confirm whether the decision might veer close to the senator’s position. In addition to linking U.S. aid to the Afghan government’s performance, Kerry has left open the possibility of sending more U.S. troops while saying McChrystal’s approach “reaches too far, too fast.”

Kerry, the 2004 Democratic nominee for the U.S. presidency and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he doesn’t know when Obama will announce his decision on the strategy. Obama is scheduled to leave for a trip to Asia within days after Afghan voters go to the polls Nov. 7 for a presidential runoff election.

Kerry helped persuade Karzai to agree to the rematch during a visit to Afghanistan last week, and the president is favored to defeat his challenger, former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah.

CNN Report

CNN, in its report, quoted former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad as saying that Abdullah may not stay in the race and that the country may be governed by a power-sharing arrangement.

The timing of a decision on strategy depends in part on whether Obama believes he has enough information to judge the prospects for an Afghan government that can govern with credibility and handle civilian development efforts, Kerry said.

“I suspect he will make the decision sometime very soon,” Kerry said. “What’s important to us is that we get legitimacy out of this election at the highest level, and then we can work downwards and deal with the issues of individual governors or individual relationships.”

Karzai’s Brother

Kerry cited “serious questions” about links between Karzai’s brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, and the Central Intelligence Agency. The New York Times reported this week that he has received regular payments from the agency for much of the past eight years in exchange for services including helping recruit an Afghan paramilitary force.

Ahmed Wali Karzai said that, while he cooperated with American civilian and military officials, he didn’t receive payments from the CIA. He also denied allegations that he was involved in the drug trade.

“We’re asking questions,” Kerry said, citing his lunch with Panetta and a group of other senators. “I’m not at liberty to talk about it, but I don’t believe there is a direct relationship” with the CIA.

Hamid Karzai will confront “reasonable” issues where evidence indicates joint efforts to stabilize Afghanistan are at risk, Kerry said. Still, Karzai questioned whether the news reports related to his brother indicate an effort in Washington to undermine him, the senator said.

“President Karzai is prepared to engage in a fair and reasonable and trusted process” of engagement “in a respectful way as partners,” Kerry said.

Decisions Loom

Karzai realizes that a victory in the runoff will force him to make decisions on “who’s effective and who isn’t” among his ministers, Kerry said. “There are even provincial governor appointments that are going to have to be made that are different from what we have today.”

The Obama administration’s ability to repair rifts with leaders in Afghanistan and Pakistan will be essential to a successful effort to defeat al-Qaeda, Kerry said. The war in Afghanistan can’t distract the U.S. from a simultaneous focus on Pakistan, he said.

“Pakistan is the center of the al-Qaeda presence,” Kerry said, citing the danger of rising extremism and the country’s nuclear weapons. “If we keep our eye on Pakistan, I believe Afghanistan will flow more easily out of that.”

He said he couldn’t judge Clinton’s timing for raising the question of Pakistani officials’ knowledge of the whereabouts of al-Qaeda militants, which U.S. officials believe are hiding near the Afghan border.

“How you raise those issues, where you raise those issues is obviously a matter of personal preference or I suppose diplomatic policy,” Kerry said. “I think that, at this particular moment, what we’re trying to do is build our relationship and trust with the Pakistanis.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Viola Gienger in Washington at vgienger@bloomberg.net .