Afghan Leader Faces His First Crisis

Interim Prime Minister Hamid Karzai proclaimed his first day in office Sunday “excellent” after meeting with his Cabinet to tackle this country’s myriad woes. But as evidence mounted that U.S. warplanes mistakenly bombed a convoy of government supporters, the Afghan leader confronted his first public relations crisis.

With only six months for him to improve the daily lives of his impoverished people, Karzai gathered his government for a two-hour session at which he said he had made enhancing security his highest priority.

While the new leaders caucused, several dozen men and women marched in support of the first peaceful transition of power in decades and to keep the pressure on Karzai to make a success of this long-awaited opportunity.

“We want equality, democracy and peace,” women in powder-blue burkas and men in turbans and tunics proclaimed as they marched toward a United Nations building while the 30-member Cabinet met at the presidential palace.

But in the eastern Afghan city of Khowst, local leaders were demanding that Karzai call U.S. forces to account for the air attack Thursday on a column of trucks and cars they said was headed for this capital city to attend the new government’s inauguration Saturday.

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and officials here--including Army Gen. Tommy Franks, who commands the U.S. troops deployed to Afghanistan--have insisted that the airstrike was against supporters of Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda terrorist network.

But in the Pakistani city of Peshawar, where several of the casualties were being treated, one man told the Reuters news agency that U.S. forces had been misled by a local warlord with a score to settle with one of the officials in the convoy.

Pushtun tribal chieftain Gulabdin warned that Karzai’s authority will be undermined if he fails to protect the country from such deadly intrigues. The nighttime attack was reported to have killed 65 people, most of them tribal elders.

“If American warplanes make another aggressive attack on Khowst, then we will take armed measures against Karzai’s administration,” the Pakistani-based Afghan Islamic Press agency quoted Gulabdin as saying.

Witnesses told Reuters that U.S. intelligence about the convoy was based on misinformation from a regional warlord who deliberately steered the convoy of about 20 to 25 vehicles through a narrow mountain pass, then told U.S. commanders the travelers were from Al Qaeda.

“There are no Taliban in Khowst,” said survivor Haji Yaqub Khan Tanaiwal. “All in the convoy were supporters of the new administration.”

Most Afghan citizens appear supportive of the U.S. campaign to crush the terrorists who found refuge here under the Taliban regime, which brutalized this country for five years. But “friendly fire” killing of respected regional figures could turn public sentiment against the foreign forces.

Despite the bombing, which Franks has said will be subject to a full investigation, Karzai told CNN on Sunday that U.S. forces can stay in the country as long as they need to defeat the scourge of terrorism.

Washington has opted out of a direct role in the International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF, now deploying in Kabul. But the mission that so far consists of a few dozen British troops is about to be augmented with 1,200 German soldiers who are en route and a field hospital unit in Mazar-i-Sharif being sent from Jordan.

Afghanistan had already received major diplomatic boosts from neighboring countries within 24 hours of the swearing-in of the government.

India announced plans to open four new consulates in the country--in Jalalabad, Kandahar, Herat and Mazar-i-Sharif--to show its commitment to working with Afghans to shore up peace in the volatile region.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, meanwhile, gave resounding endorsement to Karzai in an interview broadcast on Chinese state television during a visit he was making to Beijing. Musharraf described the worldly new prime minister as “extremely able” and the right choice to lead Afghanistan out of disaster.

China also hailed the transition of power, calling it an important step toward stability in the region.