US envoys and legislators have warned Afghan President Hamid Karzai that American patience is running out, citing concerns about allegations of fraud and corruption and attempts to prejudge the outcome of last week's election, participants said.
Mr Karzai met twice with US President Barack Obama's envoy to Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, after the August 20th presidential election, including a private lunch in Kabul that turned "tense" when the US envoy raised the possibility of a run-off.
After that confrontation, the two finished dessert and shook hands, officials said.
US tensions with Mr Karzai, in meetings with Mr Holbrooke and a visiting delegation of US senators, reflected both election-time stress and growing discord in American relations with the man who has been leading Afghanistan since the Taliban was overthrown in 2001.
Endemic government corruption and his close ties with former militia leaders have eroded Mr Karzai's support, both with the Afghan people and with Washington policymakers.
The Obama administration was particularly disturbed by Karzai's last-minute alliance with Uzbek General Abdul Rashid Dostum, officials said.
"He [Karzai] has hurt himself in the eyes of a lot of people," a Western observer close to US deliberations explained of Dostum's role in Karzai's campaign.
US officials say Gen Dostom, who fought for Afghanistan's Soviet-backed Communist government and later switched sides repeatedly during years of factional civil war, may be responsible for war crimes.
Mr Karzai justified the move to Washington, telling officials he believed Dostum, who enjoys the overwhelming backing of ethnic Uzbeks in the north of Afghanistan, delivered key votes that could put him over the top.
Reuters