Karzai accuses "foreign elements" of Afghan interference (Extra)

Jan 25, 2011, 15:31 GMT

Kabul - President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday accused 'foreign elements' of creating a crisis in Afghanistan, amidst pressure from international allies and lawmakers to announce the opening of the new parliament this week.

Karzai initially delayed the opening of the new parliament, slated for January 23, for more than a month. He eventually agreed to preside over a new Wednesday opening after lawmakers - apparently backed by Western countries - decided to go ahead without him.

'A number of foreign elements questioned our decision and began creating crisis in the country by telling the winning candidates to open the national assembly without the president and told them 'we are with you',' Karzai was quoted in a presidential statement as saying.

The top United Nations envoy to Afghanistan, Staffan de Mistura, held several meetings with the winning candidates in the past three days and called on Karzai to open the new session 'as soon as possible'. Similar demands were also made by the US and NATO officials.

'In order to salvage Afghanistan from foreign interference, we decided to meet winner candidates and persuaded them to accept special court's decisions after the parliament is inaugurated,' Karzai said.

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