Karzai Blocks Plan to Give Ashdown Key Role in Afghanistan

The United Nations yesterday began looking for a new candidate to represent the international community in Afghanistan after Paddy Ashdown was forced to withdraw in the face of Afghan opposition.

The former Liberal Democrat leader's withdrawal is an embarrassment for Britain, the US and the UN, which had agreed on Lord Ashdown's candidacy apparently without thoroughly checking his acceptability to President Hamid Karzai and his government in Kabul.

Even after Karzai had raised objections last week, British officials assessed it as a minor glitch and confidently predicted Ashdown would be confirmed as the UN's special representative to Kabul within days. Former Foreign Office press officers had already been asked if they were interested in serving as his spokesman.

According to diplomatic sources, Karzai's objections grew as he learned more about Ashdown's record as the international community's "high representative" in Bosnia, where he had a reputation for being effective and assertive. Karzai was concerned a forceful and high-profile personality would eclipse the authority of his own government.

In a letter to the UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-Moon, Ashdown pointed out that he had not sought the post, but had been persuaded by the US that he would have the required backing to do what he thought necessary to coordinate international support for the Kabul government. Ashdown also recalled that Ban had assured him, at a meeting in Madrid this month, that he had the support of Kabul. However, in the light of reports of Afghan opposition, he had decided to pull out. "The task involved is difficult enough in any case," Ashdown wrote. "I just do not believe it is feasible in the face of opposition from the elected government of Afghanistan."

The foreign secretary, David Miliband, said in a statement: "The UK believes he was well-suited to this important role and would have done an excellent job. It is now imperative that the UN and the government of Afghanistan work together as quickly as possible to agree a suitable candidate to take on this key role."

In his withdrawal letter, Ashdown said he thought that Kabul opposed his appointment "partially based on my nationality and Britain's role in Afghanistan".

However, senior Afghan officials have expressed interest in another Briton, General John McColl, who led the first international peacekeeping force in Afghanistan and was Britain's special envoy for the counter-narcotics effort there. He is Nato's deputy supreme commander in Europe.

The debacle over Ashdown's appointment came at a time of growing friction in the relationship between Kabul and Nato forces. At the Davos economic summit last week, Karzai criticised British handling of Helmand province, which has seen fierce fighting. Analysts fear that unless there is better coordination among the donor countries, troop contributors and Kabul, the situation in Afghanistan could worsen significantly.