Afghan President Hamid Karzai is increasingly isolated and has surrounded himself with an inner circle of advisers who urge him to move closer to Iran and Pakistan as the U.S. draws down its role in Afghanistan, several friends and aides told The Associated Press.
Their advice is echoed in Karzai’s anti-West rhetoric. He met recently with Iran’s defense minister and constantly cautions against trusting the U.S. to have Afghanistan’s best interests at heart.
Several of Karzai’s close friends and advisers say people allowed to see the president are vetted by an inner circle of religious conservatives who belong to a nonviolent wing of Hizb-i-Islami, a radical Islamic group whose relentless attacks on American soldiers forced the U.S. to withdraw from bases in northeastern Kunar and Nuristan provinces.
The Associated Press
