News Home  Hagel cancels appearance after Karzai takes aim at US
Karzai and Hagel in Afghanistan  Afghan president Hamid Karzai
(left) walks with US defence secretary Chuck Hagel in Kabul.
United States defence secretary Chuck Hagel has cancelled a
joint press conference with Hamid Karzai, after the Afghan
president accused the US of benefiting from Taliban attacks.  Mr
Karzai and Mr Hagel's appearance in front of the cameras was to
be a key part of the Pentagon chief's visit to Afghanistan.   Mr
Hagel's trip was marked by two deadly suicide bombs on Saturday
- one within his earshot in Kabul - and a further delay to the
planned transfer of the controversial Bagram jail from US to
Afghan control.  In a provocative speech on Sunday, Mr Karzai
said the US was in daily talks with the Taliban and that
insurgent suicide attacks enabled the international military
force to justify its presence in Afghanistan.  "The bombs that
were detonated in Kabul and Khost were not a show of force, they
were serving America,"