Karzai denies coverup of U.S. military raid; says American pres

By Paisley Dodds ~ The Associated Press

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- President Hamid Karzai dismissed allegations Friday that the United States tried to cover up a deadly airstrike and said a continued American presence was crucial to Afghanistan's future.

Flanked by U.S. special forces bodyguards, Karzai said he visited one of the villages attacked in the July 1 air raid, and when asked if he believed there had been a cover-up, said, "I don't think so. People would have told me."

Karzai said the air attack in Uruzgan province killed 46 civilians and wounded 117, many of them celebrants at a wedding party. The attack was investigated by the United States and by a separate United Nations fact-finding group. Previously, Afghan officials put the death toll at 48.

A U.N. report has not been publicly released, but the Times of London reported Monday that the initial draft concluded American forces may have removed evidence after the attack and violated human rights. U.S. officials denied the allegations.

"The U.N. report was not correct," Karzai said as he arrived for a meeting with Kandahar Gov. Gul Agha Sherzai. "Lots of people had much misinformation. The second report, the official report, will be much more accurate."

Karzai, who visited the stricken area Thursday, described the U.S. raid as "unfortunate" but said villagers were still tolerant of U.S. military presence. He said the United States has offered to pay $2 million for reconstruction.

"We should concentrate on leaving the sad days behind us," he said. "I have gotten assurances that something like this will not happen again but in the pursuit of a task, people always make mistakes and people must understand that."

Karzai said the initial U.N. report was "written immediately" and anyone who would have gone to the village after the attack would have been "angered."

He denied allegations said to be in the U.N. report that U.S. special forces removed evidence and handcuffed female villagers.

"The U.S. military presence is needed for Afghanistan's security," he said.

The airstrike fed a wave of resentment among Afghans over the U.S. military presence and sparked the first protests in Kabul since the fall of the Taliban. Karzai, whose presidency is beset by tensions among competing factions in his government, would be weakened by appearing subservient to the United States.

But he also is unlikely to risk harsh criticism of American forces, which are hunting Taliban and al-Qaida holdouts. He relies heavily on American political support to stay in power.

Karzai's tenuous hold was underlined Friday by thousands of demonstrators gathering in two restive provinces, where warlords at odds with Karzai wield substantial influence.