Afghan minister: WikiLeaks hurt US-Afghan ties

[unhappycamper]

Afghan President Hamid Karzai gestures during a joint press conference with Pakistan's Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, unseen, at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan on Saturday, Dec 4, 2010.


Afghan minister: WikiLeaks hurt US-Afghan ties
By DEB RIECHMANN
The Associated Press
Saturday, December 4, 2010; 7:23 AM

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Afghanistan's finance minister warned Saturday that the release of leaked U.S. diplomatic cables will hurt U.S.-Afghan relations, and he denied a report that he called President Hamid Karzai an "extremely weak man."

Afghan Finance Minister Omar Zakhilwal said it will no longer be "business as usual" between key Afghan ministers and U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry. The rift could jeopardize Eikenberry's effectiveness as America's top diplomat in Kabul at a time when U.S.-Afghan relations are already strained.

Zakhilwal said he never called Karzai "an extremely weak man" as reported in a U.S. Embassy cable dated Feb. 26, 2010.

The report is "absolutely, categorically wrong and false," Zakhilwal said. "This leaves no trust between me and the ambassador - extremely little trust."

He accused Eikenberry of misquoting him in the cable to further Eikenberry's own opinion of the president.

[ixion]

1. I bet our hostile occupation of Afghanistan causes more trouble

just sayin'...