Afghanistan under Hamid Karzai

Kandahar, 10 December 2001: Hamid Karzai, right, Afghanistan's interim prime minister, meets tribal leaders from the five southern Afghan states in a former residence of the Taliban supreme leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar Photograph: Jerome Delay/AP

Kabul, 22 December 2001: Hamid Karzai on the day he took thge oath of office as interim leader of the Afghan parliament Photograph: Marco Di Lauro/AP

Kabul, 7 January 2002: The British prime minister, Tony Blair, with Karzai at Bagram airbase Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

Washington DC, 28 January 2002: Karzai in the Rose Garden of the White House during a press conference with the president, George Bush Photograph: J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Kabul, 10 July 2004: Afghans pass by a photograph of Karzai during the presidential election campaign Photograph: MANISH SWARUP/AP

Lashkar Gah, 1 April 2006: A helicopter operated by the US security contractor DynCorp flies over an opium poppy field in Helmand province Photograph: John Moore/Getty Images

Washington DC, 27 September 2006: Presidents George Bush, Pervez Musharraf and Karzai at a tense press conference Photograph: Joshua Roberts/Reuters

Bournemouth, UK, 1 October 2003: Karzai addresses the Labour party conference, with Tony Blair looking on Photograph: Dan Chung

Washington DC, 15 June 2004: Karzai in a meeting with the US vice-president, Dick Cheney Photograph: AFP /Getty Images

Kabul, 21 February 2008: The Nato secretary-general, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, shakes hands with Karzai at a press conference Photograph: Ahmad Masood /Reuters

Kabul, 27 April 2008: Afghan military personnel run from the scene of an assasination attempt on Karzai. He escaped unhurt from the attack by Taliban fighters Photograph: Omar Sobhani/Reuters

Kabul, 7 July 2008: A policeman carries an injured man after a suicide attack on the Indian embassy, which killed 41 people and wounded 139 Photograph: Pajwak News Agency/Reuters

Maydan Shahr, 26 September 2008: The Taliban militia stand on a hillside at in Wardak province, west of Kabul Photograph: AFP/Getty

Kabul, 15 December 2008: George Bush embraces Karzai as the outgoing US president departs the Afghan presidential palace for the last time Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters