WASHINGTON (PAN): US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has praised President Hamid Karzai and several members of his cabinet, saying he has really stepped up in his second term.

"I spent a lot of time with President Karzai, most recently about a 90-minute, one-on-one conversation in London. I think he has really stepped up since his second inaugural address," she said.

She told the CNN in an interview Karzai laid out a road map, which he was trying to follow. "There are areas of very positive cooperation. He may not have a full cabinet, but the cabinet members he has are people who many of us view as honest and effective, productive.

"We work with them on a daily basis, the defence minister or the finance minister, (are) people who are really producing results for Afghanistan," observed Clinton, who argued one had to be realistic about the current situation and the achievements in the war-torn country.

"I always remind myself that what five or six years into a new nation that has no history of democracy, let's be realistic about the kind of support that this new government and the president needs," she added.

The secretary went on to remark: "So I think we have to put this into a more balanced perspective. It's neither as bad or as good, just like most of life and most of the situations that I deal with around the world, and I think we have developed a much stronger understanding and partnership in the last year going forward."

Referring to the London conference, she said the strategy that the United States and more than 44 countries were pursuing in Afghanistan required they had a good partner in President Karzai and his government.

Responding to a question regarding al-Qaeda and the Taliban insurgents, Clinton claimed the US had succeeded in degrading their capacity in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

"We know that. As the president said the other night, we have killed and captured a significant number of al-Qaeda's top leadership, as well as people in the Taliban organisations in Afghanistan and Pakistan who cooperate with them," she said.

mud