Afghan president sworn in to 2nd 5-year term

[November 19, 2009]  KABUL (AP) -- Afghanistan will control its own security within five years and prosecute corrupt officials, President Hamid Karzai pledged Thursday in an inauguration speech made under intense pressure to shed the cronyism and graft that marked his government's first term.

As Karzai promised to make the country safer, an explosion in violent southern Afghanistan killed two U.S. service members, NATO said. Jilani Farahe, deputy chief of police for Zabul province, said a suicide car bomber detonated his explosives near the gate of a NATO base. He said no civilians were hurt.

During his speech, Karzai also said he wanted private Afghan and foreign security companies to stop operating in the country within two years.

"We are determined that by the next five years, the Afghan forces are capable of taking the lead in ensuring security and stability across the country," with foreign troops only responsible for support and training, he said.

Karzai won this year's fraud-marred presidential election after his main rival, Abdullah Abdullah, pulled out of a runoff, saying it was impossible for the vote to be fair.

But Karzai sought to portray himself as a unifying force and invited those who ran in the election to work together for the benefit of the country.

"I would like to invite all the presidential candidates, including my brother Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, to come together to achieve the important task of national unity, and make our common home, Afghanistan, proud and prosperous," he said. He stopped short, however, of inviting him into his government.

He said a loya jirga, or traditional council of elders, would be called to address the insurgency, but did not set a timeframe.

"We will utilize all national and international resources to put an end to war and fratricide," he said.

Karzai, who has often bristled at the criticism leveled at him from Western powers, said his government was doing whatever it could to implement reforms.

"We are trying our best to implement social, judicial and administrative reforms in our country," he said. "Being a president is a heavy task and we will try our best to honestly fulfill this task in the future."

Initial foreign reaction was positive.

"This was a speech with the right emphases. It fulfilled our expectations," said German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, who attended the inauguration. "We will take President Karzai at his word and expect that the right words will be followed by the right doings."

Karzai said a conference would be held soon in Kabul to address ways to tackle corruption, and that his government would take its fight against drug trafficking seriously.

"Those who spread corruption should be tried and prosecuted," he said. "Corruption is a very dangerous enemy of the state."

The president insisted he would select "expert ministers" capable of providing competent leadership.

Karzai was sworn in to a second five-year term by the head of the Supreme Court during a ceremony attended by hundreds of Afghan and foreign dignitaries from more than 40 countries. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and British Foreign Minister David Miliband were among them. Heavily armed soldiers stood beside armored personnel carriers at the gate to the palace.

Karzai said Zardari's presence at his inauguration was a sign of "good relationship, good brotherhood." Traditionally rocky relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan, which share a 1,510-mile (2,430-kilometer) -long border, have improved steadily since Zardari's elected government replaced the military dictatorship of Gen. Pervez Musharraf.

Some saw Karzai's speech as an indication that he was serious about tackling graft.

"It was a renewed commitment to curb corruption and appoint competent people. I think that was good," said Abdul Qadeer Fitrat, governor of the Afghanistan State Bank.

The Taliban, however, said the inauguration ceremony was meaningless and that they would not accept his call for national unity.

"Today is not a historic day. This is a government based on nothing because of the continuing presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan," spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told The Associated Press in a telephone call.

"Karzai's call to the Taliban to come to the government has no meaning. He became president through fraud and lies," Mujahid said.

The head of Afghanistan's human rights commission said the speech struck the right tone of reform but that the Karzai government would not be able to succeed without the help of its international allies.

"The speech was good because he said we need action," said Sima Samar. "He can deliver if there is a political will -- but not just on his part, also on the part of the international community."

Others were hopeful, if somewhat skeptical, that Karzai could deliver on his promises.

"President Karzai has not done too well in the past four years. I hope he can perform better in the future," Sher Mohamad, a taxi driver, said as he passed through a police and army checkpoint. "In this country if you want a good job you have to pay a bribe to get it. Maybe he can stop that."

[Associated Press; By KATHY GANNON]

Associated Press writers Deb Riechmann in Kabul, Denis Gray in Logar and Alfred de Montesquiou in Kapisa contributed to this report.

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