31 March 2013 Last updated at 12:46 ET

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Hamid Karzai is into his second term of office

President: Hamid Karzai

Hamid Karzai, in power since Taliban rule was ended in 2001, won a second five-year term in an August 2009 election widely criticised as marred by fraud.

Hundreds of thousands of votes were declared invalid, cutting Mr Karzai's share of the vote to under 50%. A second round was avoided when his main opponent withdrew, saying not enough had been done to prevent further fraud.

During his second term, Mr Karzai has admitted that his government and its Western allies have failed to bring peace to Afghanistan. He has called for firm aid commitments from international donors after the planned departure of Nato-led combat forces in 2014.

Ahead of the pull-out, his rhetoric has been increasingly critical of foreign forces, in what observers see as an effort to dissociate himself from his Western backers.

The president has acknowledged chronic corruption and pledged to tackle the problem.

National unity

Hamid Karzai was initially put in charge of the provisional administration set up when the Taliban were driven from power in 2001, and won Afghanistan's first direct presidential elections in October 2004.

He faced the tough challenges of forging national unity, disarming regional militias and tackling drug production.

Mr Karzai, a Pashtun leader, was seen an effective player on the world stage and initially he enjoyed strong backing from his Western allies.

However, the president's relations with the West cooled amid allegations of corruption in his administration.

Mr Karzai has defended the presence of international troops in Afghanistan, but has been critical of coalition air strikes that have caused heavy civilian casualties.

Taliban talks

From 2008 Mr Karzai held secret reconciliation talks with Taliban factions, with the knowledge and cooperation of the US. But in 2011 he said there was no point in pursuing these directly. Instead he said his government would talk to Pakistan, which he said wielded influence over the Taliban.

Progress was made in this direction in early 2013, when President Karzai and Pakistan's Asif Ali Zardari agree to work for an Afghan peace deal within six months after talks hosted by Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron.

Born in the southern town of Kandahar in 1957, Hamid Karzai studied in India and France. He was exiled in Pakistan for much of the Soviet occupation and during Taliban rule.