The Governor of Helmand Province has been given a medal and moved from his post a few weeks after initiating one of Britain's most embarrassing debacles in Afghanistan. Last December Asadullah Wafa persuaded President Karzai to expel two international officials who he accused of trying to make deals with the Taleban behind the President's back, jeopardising the British policy of trying to win over Taleban commanders.

The episode was only the first of a series of rows between Britain and the Kabul Government that have demoralised diplomats in the Afghan capital and brought relations between London and Kabul to a low point. A few weeks later Mr Karzai publicly attacked British policy in Helmand and then blocked the candidacy of Lord Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon as UN envoy.

Even before the recent tensions the Governor was known as no friend to the British in Helmand, where most of the 7,800 troops are fighting a fierce insurgency. Massive efforts are being made to strengthen the Afghan Government's feeble grip on the province.

Mr Wafa, an elderly businessman regarded as old-fashioned and ineffective, was the Government's main representative in the province since December 2006.

The British Embassy in Kabul insisted last night that no pressure had been brought to bear to get rid of Mr Wafa, unlike his predecessor, Sher Mohammed Akhunzada, who was forced out at the behest of Britain because of alleged links to the narcotics trade. A spokesman said: “These appointments are an internal matter for the Government of Afghanistan.” Privately, however, British diplomats and aid workers based in Lashkar Gah will be relieved to see the back of the Governor.

His replacement, Gulab Mangal, the Governor of Laghman province near Kabul, is described as a man with a modern outlook and a track record as a good administrator. He will have his work cut out in Helmand, where the British are trying to persuade a sceptical population that they are better off with the Afghan Government than the Taleban.

Mr Wafa's rule barely extended outside the gates of his guarded compound in Lashkar Gah. He was seen as weak and unwilling to crack down on powerful opium mafias. Unlike many officials, he was not tainted by corruption allegations. British officials now privately admit that corruption has reached such levels in southern Afghanistan that they have little choice but to work with tainted figures.

Mr Wafa is apparently pleased to be going back to the relative safety of Kabul, where he will start a new job as head of the complaints department at the presidential palace. He told reporters that he had been begging Mr Karzai to move.

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