Afghan interim leader Hamid Karzai says last week's deadly factional fighting in eastern Afghanistan highlights the need for a national army. In Kabul, Mr. Karzai blamed the fighting for control of Paktia province in part on his hand-picked governor, Padshah Khan, saying the governor had no right to use his army to oust a rival warlord. The rival eventually defeated Mr. Khan's army and drove it from the city of Gardez.

Mr. Karzai's assessment came after meeting Tuesday with visiting British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon. Mr. Karzai said he used the meeting to repeat his request for an expanded British-led peacekeeping force that would operate outside Kabul as well as in the capital.

But Mr. Hoon called Afghanistan's tribal-based infighting manageable. After the meeting, he said he believed that the current deployment level of foreign peacekeepers is adequate.

Meanwhile, the two sides that fought for control of the eastern city of Gardez are reported exchanging prisoners, as mediators from the interim government try to shore up a conditional cease-fire in the region. The mediators say the negotiations are ongoing and difficult.

In related developments, U.N. mediators in northern Afghanistan say they have brokered a ceasefire between feuding factions in Mazar-e-Sharif.

Meanwhile, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says U.S. military officials have returned to a village north of Kandahar to investigate the possibility that a January raid there was a mistake. Mr. Rumsfeld says the troops will apologize if they find the victims of the raid were supporters of the Afghan interim government.

Mr. Rumsfeld would not confirm reports that families of those killed in the raid have received compensation. Pentagon officials say the Afghan government may have paid compensation.

Some information for this report provided by Reuters and AFP.

Email this article to a friend
Printer Friendly Version