White House says it will evaluate future Karzai remarks to decide whether to cancel visit
By APTuesday, April 6, 2010
White House is considering canceling Karzai visit
WASHINGTON — The White House says it is considering canceling a visit by Afghan President Hamid Karzai if his remarks continue to be troubling.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters during his daily briefing on Tuesday that “we certainly would evaluate whatever continued or further remarks President Karzai makes as to whether that’s constructive to have such a meeting, sure.”
Karzai is due to meet with President Barack Obama at the White House on May 12.
Asked if Karzai is an ally of the U.S., Gibbs would only refer to him as the Democratically elected leader of Afghanistan. He called untrue Karzai’s claims of Western blame for the fraud in Afghanistan’s presidential election last year.
“The remarks he made, I can’t imagine that anybody in this country found them anything other than troubling.”
