Afghanistan's president summons US ambassador to complain about colleague's 'civil war' remark
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Afghan President Hamid Karzai has summoned the U.S. ambassador to complain about a fellow diplomat's comment that "there already is, of course, a civil war in Afghanistan."
U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan James Dobbins made the remarks in a recent interview with Voice of America's Deewa news service.
Karzai spokesman Aimal Faizi has said that if Dobbins' assertion was true, then the U.S. was an actor in a civil war instead of fighting terrorism.
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U.S. Embassy spokesman Robert Hilton confirmed that Ambassador James Cunningham was summoned to the presidency Tuesday.
He declined to characterize the meeting but referred Wednesday to a statement saying Dobbins used "a standard academic term in the context of describing the need for Afghans to speak to Afghans to achieve peace."