Karzai sworn in for second term amid tight security 00000401938446, others available (3rd Lead)

Nov 19, 2009, 8:30 GMT

   Kabul - Afghan President Hamid Karzai was sworn in Thursday for a second term in office amid tight security at Kabul's presidential palace.

   Security in the Afghan capital was tightened drastically out of fear of possible attacks by Taliban insurgents wishing to disrupt the inauguration.

   Wearing a black lambskin hat and a green traditional striped silk coat over his shoulders, 53-year-old Karzai took his oath in a nationally televised ceremony.

   'I swear to obey and safeguard the provisions of the sacred religion of Islam, to observe the constitution and other laws of Afghanistan and supervise their implementation,' Karzai said, repeating the oath of allegiance read to him by the country's chief justice, Abdul Salam Azimi.

   Karzai then swore in his two vice presidents, Marshal Mohammad Qasim Fahim and Mohammad Karim Khalili, both powerful ex-warlords and members of the country's two largest ethnic minorities.

   Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, as well as the foreign ministers of Germany, France and Britain took part in the ceremony.

   More than 1,000 people, among about 250 international guests, attended the swearing-in of the increasingly controversial president.

   Karzai who faces daunting challenges, including a rampant Taliban-led insurgency, during his next five-year term, called on Taliban militants to come back to mainstream life and renounce violence.

   'It has been 30 years that our people have been making sacrifices to have peace,' Karzai said in his inaugural speech. 'It is a reality that bringing peace and security can't only be accomplished through war and violence.

   'We welcome all those countrymen, who are not linked to international terrorist networks, and who want to have a peaceful life in the light of our constitution. We will extend necessary assistance to them,' he said.

   He said that his next administration was determined to convene a tribal council, or loya jirga, to facilitate reconciliation with the militants.

   The Taliban have repeatedly said that they consider Karzai to be a puppet of the West, vowing to continue their war against the Kabul goverment until they force out the more than 100,000 international troops deployed to Afghanistan.

   Kabul was calm as it was on complete lockdown with major roads leading to the presidential palace closed to traffic and all commercial fights cancelled. Thursday was declared a public holiday in Kabul, and citizens were also told to avoid unnecessary journeys.

   Karzai also said that the army was ready to take the lead in anti-insurgent operations the country's most volatile regions within three years, adding, 'I hope that by next five years, the Afghan forces are capable of taking the lead in ensuring security and stability across the country.'

   Public support for the continued engagement of US-led NATO troops in Afghanistan is waning in Western countries, forcing NATO leaders to consider an exit strategy.

   Karzai was named president in the country's fraud-marred polls after his main challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, pulled out of a runoff scheduled for November 7.

   Karzai, a tribal elder from the Pashtun Popalzai tribe was selected as the head of the interim administration at a conference in Germany after the ouster of the Taliban regime in late 2001.

   He was then elected by Afghan representatives in a loya jirga, or the country's traditional grand assembly, in 2003, as the head of the transitional government, which then helped him win with an absolute majority the first democratic presidential election in 2004.