WASHINGTON, Nov. 12 (UPI) -- Persecution of the Afghan president will do little to encourage the diplomatic engagement needed for the embattled nation, Zalmay Khalilzad said.
Khalilzad delivered an address at the 63rd annual dinner at the Middle East Institute in Washington. He called on world leaders to encourage Afghan President Hamid Karzai to lead his country with a strong central government.
World leaders are rethinking their support for the war in Afghanistan following allegations of corruption within the Karzai administration. Those concerns were heightened following evidence that widespread fraud contributed to Karzai's recent re-election in the presidential contest.
Khalilzad, who served as U.S. envoy to Iraq and Afghanistan, said criticizing the Afghan president does little in the way of support, Saudi Arabia's Arab News reports.
"I don't think the best way to get him to cooperate is to heckle him publicly," he said. "This is a significant challenge diplomatically."
His comments come as Washington balks on deciding on the appropriate strategy for a revamped war strategy for Afghanistan. The envoy, however, said military engagement would be ineffective without a strong reconstruction effort.
"Without that, and without functional regional and Afghan government, force alone will not be enough for the challenges we face," he said.
