Karzai gets call after 4 weeks

KABUL: Presidents Hamid Karzai and Barack Obama spoke on the phone for the first time exactly four weeks after Obama's inauguration, Karzai's office said yesterday.

The two presidents spoke about security issues and Afghanistan's presidential elections in August, Karzai's office said. Obama called the Afghan leader on Tuesday, the same day Obama announced he was deploying more US forces to Afghanistan.

Karzai admitted last week that close to a month after Obama's inauguration he still had not spoken with the US leader. Karzai spoke with former president George W. Bush regularly, fueling speculation that Obama was sending a clear signal that Karzai's standing with him was much lower.