Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai | featured news

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta arrived in Kabul Wednesday afternoon to take stock of the war as the Obama administration weighs how quickly to draw down troops over the next two years. The trip, likely his last official visit to the war zone, will give Panetta a chance to consult with U.S. commanders and Afghan President Hamid Karzai about the future U.S. role here as the decade-long war comes to an end.

Afghanistan will hold its next presidential election on April 5, 2014, the Election Commission announced on Wednesday. President Hamid Karzai, who is constitutionally barred from seeking a third term, had denied speculation that security problems and the exit of foreign troops that year would delay the poll.

Afghan Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak resigned on Tuesday after losing a no-confidence vote in parliament, leaving President Hamid Karzai scrambling to find a replacement for one of his top security tsars as insurgent attacks mount.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Thursday said he was considering bringing forward by a year the presidential election set for 2014 to reduce the pressure on the conflict-plagued country during the period when majority of NATO coalition troops are scheduled to withdraw.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Friday accused the United States of failing to fully cooperate with an investigation into the massacre of 16 Afghan villagers by a U.S. staff sergeant and questioned whether only one soldier could have been involved.

Prospects for an orderly withdrawal of NATO forces from Afghanistan suffered two blows on Thursday, as President Hamid Karzai demanded that American troops be confined to major bases by next year.

The Afghan government has joined the United States in talks with the Taliban, Afghan President Hamid Karzai says in a new report.

Afghanistan expects to remain dependent on international economic assistance until 2025, according to projections President Hamid Karzai will deliver to global partners at a conference here Monday. Together with ongoing costs to support the Afghan army and police forces, at least $10 billion in assistance will be required annually after the scheduled departure of foreign combat forces by the end of 2014.

President Hamid Karzai has pardoned a jailed rape victim, but only after she agreed to marry the man she says raped her. The 19-year-old woman, whose name is Gulnaz, was one of the subjects of a documentary recently produced by the European Union, highlighting the phenomenon of rape victims being imprisoned for the "moral crime" of having sex outside marriage, even against their will.

Afghanistan would support Pakistan in case of military conflict between Pakistan and the United States, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said in an interview to a private Pakistani TV channel broadcast on Saturday.