KABUL, Afghanistan, Feb. 15 (UPI) -- Afghan government officials will be included in a major U.S. policy review of its war strategy there, President Hamid Karzai said Sunday.
At a joint news conference in Kabul with Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, Karzai said he was "very thankful" to be involved in the process, the BBC reported.
Karzai is said to have fallen out of favor with new U.S. President Barack Obama, who has criticized the Afghan leader as "detached" and unable to control corruption within his government. But Karzai and Holbrooke appeared eager to dispel notions of discord after their meeting in the Afghan capital, observers said.
Karzai told reporters he had requested and received permission to send a delegation to the United States as part of the Obama administration's review.
"I'm very very thankful that President Obama has accepted my proposal of Afghanistan joining the strategic review of the war against terrorism in the United States,"Karzai said.
Holbrooke told the BBC he hoped at least one senior U.S. official would be in Afghanistan every month "to find ways to improve our joint effort."
