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Obama, Karzai in con call
Afghan President Hamid Karzai and President Barack Obama discussed the new US policy for Afghanistan during an hourlong videoconference call on Tuesday morning, a spokesman for the presidential palace said. See Graphic
Afghan President Hamid Karzai and President Barack Obama discussed the new US policy for Afghanistan during an hourlong videoconference call on Tuesday morning, a spokesman for the presidential palace said.
The videoconference came ahead of Obama’s planned speech Tuesday night at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York,.
Karzai’s office said the two leaders discussed in detail the security, political, military and economic aspects of the strategy.
The palace did not provide details, but a close confidant of Karzai’s who was with the president following the call said Karzai was happy with the conversation. The confidant spoke anonymously because it was a private discussion.
The call was one of several Obama was making to world leaders, including Asif Ali Zardari, the president of neighbouring Pakistan.
Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen said he spoke with Obama over the phone on Monday and Obama informed him about his Afghanistan decisions.
Loekke Rasmussen would not go into details, but said that the Obama plan should make it easier for international forces to pull out at some point.
