Obama puts strings on support to Karzai

KABUL, Afghanistan, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- The United States will help the Afghan government to clean up corruption and initiate reforms, but U.S. bounty isn't limitless, President Obama said Monday.

"Although the process was messy, I'm pleased to say the final outcome was determined in accordance with Afghan law," Obama said. "It's very important not only for the international community (but also) for the Afghan people."

Obama said he congratulated Afghan President Hamid Karzai on being elected to a second term. Karzai was declared the winner by Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission after the panel canceled a Nov. 7 runoff presidential election because Karzai's challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, dropped out.

"He told me he understood the importance of the moment," Obama said during a media availability with Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt. "I told him the proof was not in words but deeds."

"This has to be a point in time when we write a new chapter" in Afghanistan, Obama said.

Abdullah's abandoning the runoff because he did not believe it could be fair, coupled with Monday's double-barreled announcement that the election was canceled and Karzai declared the winner hasn't really changed the time frame for Obama's decision about troop levels in Afghanistan, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said during a media briefing.

Gibbs said he anticipated a decision "will be made in the coming weeks."

The U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan's capital, said in a statement it "welcomes the decision by the Independent Election Commission to conclude Afghanistan's electoral process by foregoing a second round of balloting."

The embassy congratulated Karzai for being re-elected and said it looked forward working with him, his administration and others "to support Afghanistan's progress towards institutional reforms, security and prosperity."