Afghan president seeks help for army, police

This has been the most violent year in Afghanistan since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Afghan President Hamid Karzai wants the international community to strengthen his country’s army and police, telling world leaders Wednesday that a more powerful Afghanistan can better fight terrorists.

Karzai, though, criticized casualties from foreign bombing raids, saying in an address to the U.N. General Assembly that the deaths can seriously undermine the legitimacy of efforts to fight terrorism.

U.S.-Afghan relations have suffered over the issue, and Karzai said Wednesday that continuing casualties hurt “the credibility of the Afghan people’s partnership with the international community.”

The issue was propelled to the forefront of U.S.-Afghan relations when an Afghan commission found that an Aug. 22 U.S.-led operation in the western village of Azizabad killed 90 civilians, including 60 children. That finding was backed by a preliminary U.N. report, though the U.S. says it is still investigating.

Karzai pushed for giving Afghanistan more power, saying the international community should redouble its efforts to strengthen the Afghan army and police so they can more strongly fight terrorism and protect Afghanistan’s people.

“Above all, Afghan-i-sation of the military operations is vital if the problem of civilian casualties is to be addressed effectively,” Karzai said in his speech.

His comments come as Taliban attacks grow larger and more deadly. This has been the most violent year in Afghanistan since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion that ousted the Taliban’s hard-line Islamist government.

At least 120 U.S. soldiers and 104 troops from other NATO nations have died already in 2008, both record numbers. Overall, more than 4,500 people — mostly militants — have died in attacks this year.

Karzai was among world leaders addressing the General Assembly annual ministerial meeting Wednesday. Also speaking were leaders from Israel, China and Cuba among others.

Israel’s president condemned a speech given Tuesday by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who said “the Zionist regime is on a definite slope to collapse.”

Israeli President Shimon Peres called Ahmadinejad “a danger to his own people [and] the world,” saying “Tehran combines long-range missiles and short-range minds.”

The Iranian president is feared and reviled in Israel because of his repeated calls to wipe the Jewish state off the map, and his aggressive pursuit of nuclear technology has only fueled Israel’s fears.

Peres also urged the king of Saudi Arabia to advance his initiative for Mideast peace and pressed Syria’s president to agree to face-to-face talks.

Also Wednesday, Cuba’s vice president tore into the United States and other industrial countries, blaming them for skyrocketing oil prices and accusing them of siphoning natural resources from the developing world.