Afghan President Hints He'll Run For Re-Election

DOI 07 April 2008

NYT (KABUL)—Afghan President Hamid Karzai hinted Sunday, April 6, 2008 that he plans to run for a second term. President Karzai stated that he still has goals left he wishes to accomplish. The comments were his first public indications that he would run for re-election in the 2009 elections. Mike McConnell, the US Director of National Intelligence, stated earlier in 2008 that the Afghan central government controls only 30% of the country. He further stated that the Taliban controls about 10%, and local tribes control the rest. Marvin G. Weinbaum, a former State Department analyst on Afghanistan and current scholar in residence at the Middle East Institute in Washington, stated that the US would continue to back Mr. Karzai despite shortcomings that include a willingness to tolerate corruption within the Afghan government. Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/07/world/asia/07afghan.html (Reliability: 8)