Karzai sworn in as Afghan leader

Hamid Karzai has been sworn in as Afghanistan’s president for a second term, nearly three months after winning a controversial election.

Karzai took his oath of office at the presidential palace in central Kabul on Thursday.

“I swear to obey and safeguard the provisions of the sacred religion of Islam, to observe the constitution and other laws of Afghanistan and supervise their implementation,” said Karzai.

Karzai was declared the winner of the August 20 presidential election after his main rival Abdullah Abdullah quit a run-off and investigators threw out a third of Karzai’s original votes for fraud.

While Karzai had been expected to win anyway, the extent of the fraud in his favor severely damaged his credibility at home and among Western countries.

Speaking during his inauguration ceremony, Karzai vowed to prosecute corrupt government officials.

He said his government was doing whatever it could to implement reforms, pledging that the Afghan forces would be able to take control of security in the next five years.

“We are trying our best to implement social, judicial and administrative reforms in our country,” Karzai said.

“Being a president is a heavy task and we will try our best to honestly fulfill this task in the future.”

The Afghan president added that he firmly believed the problem of international terrorism in his country would be overcome.

Kabul’s streets were deserted early on Thursday with armored vehicles blocking off major roads.

The government has declared Thursday a holiday and reporters are barred from attending the swearing-in ceremony. Security officers were even stopping people from walking on the streets.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari were among 300 foreign dignitaries attending the ceremony.

Karzai was installed by the US and its Afghan allies in 2001. He won a full five-year term in the country’s first democratic presidential election in 2004.