Karzai under pressure to deliver on promises

Afghan President Hamid Karzai gets down to business yesterday after being sworn in for a second term as the world watches to see if he can deliver on his pledges to clean up his government and work to bring peace to his war-ravaged nation.
Karzai won plaudits for his inauguration speech on Thursday from Western officials including US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who said it was an "important new starting point" as the US-led war stretches into its ninth year.
But he will face his first hurdle within weeks, with the international community and disillusioned Afghans keenly awaiting his cabinet line-up as a sign of his commitment to change.
His Western backers, frustrated after pouring more than 100,000 troops and billions of dollars of aid into Afghanistan with little in return, have demanded strong action from Karzai, whose reputation has been tarnished by his fraud-ridden re-election and rampant corruption and mismanagement.