President Karzai blamed yesterday what he called an “extremely ethnic” report in The Times for his decision to turn down the appointment of Lord Ashdown as the United Nations super envoy for Afghanistan.

The Afghan president did not explain why he had drawn a connection between what had appeared in The Times and how he had made up his mind about the former Liberal Democrat leader, but he insisted that he had initially approved the appointment, then changed his mind.

President Karzai was speaking at a conference in Bucharest run by the German Marshall Fund of the United States before the formal opening of the Nato summit in the Romanian capital.

After appearing on a panel to discuss Afghanistan in front of an audience of leading politicians and academics, he faced questions and someone asked him why he had vetoed Lord Ashdown for the role of UN envoy. His appointment was backed by Britain, the United States and every other Western government.

Mr Karzai first responded by saying: “I didn’t veto the appointment of Lord Ashdown. I knew of him as the leader of the Liberal Party [sic] and I was familiar with his achievements.”

He said he had agreed the terms of reference for the appointment which was to be made by the UN Secretary-General, and that he prepared to meet Lord Ashdown either in Kabul or at the Davos conference in Switzerland in January to talk about the job.

However, “unfortunately stories appeared in the press, in The Times, about Afghanistan, in extremley ethnic terms”, he said.

He made it clear he did not enjoy the references made in an editorial in the newspaper and as a result, “with a heavy heart, I didn’t want to do it, I decided to decline [Lord Ashdown]”.<QA1>

Mr Karzai went on: “He’s a good man and he’s British [for whom] I have tremendous admiration. But I had to do it without my liking.”

However, he admitted that Lord Ashdown, who had gained experience in a similar role as UN High Representative in Bosnia, “would have been of great help”.

When Lord Ashdown’s name was withdrawn from the candidacy, the UN was presented with a significant dilemma because, as one British diplomat put it, “it was a shortlist of one”.

Eventually a Norwegian diplomat called Kai Eide was selected for the post. Mr Eide arrived in Kabul last Friday.

The editorial suspected of upsetting the Afghan leader appeared on January 16. Describing President Karzai’s “precarious position” in Kabul, The Times said: “Ethnically, he is a lonely Pashtun in a government made up largely of Tajik veterans of the Northern Alliance.”

Lord Ashdown suggested yesterday that had he been appointed he may have faced a tricky relationship with President Karzai. "Almost did, but thankfully didn't," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme of his near-appointment.

He added that what Afghanistan needed was not just more Nato troops but “a stable government”.

"You can defeat the enemy militarily on the battlefield but what we have to do is win the political battles,” he said.

Lord Ashdown gave warning that Nato was getting close to losing in Afghanistan. “I’m not saying for a moment that we have lost. I’m saying that we’re getting pretty close,” he said.

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