:00:00. > :00:00.The Afghan President Hamid Karzai is preparing to step down and our chief
:00:00. > :00:00.international correspondent Lyse Doucet has been given special access
:00:00. > :00:14.to him to talk about the country's turbulent recent history. The worst
:00:15. > :00:22.of attacks in 2001 brought the best chance for peace in Afghanistan. The
:00:23. > :00:25.US led invasion in the wake of September the 11th toppled the
:00:26. > :00:32.Taliban, and Afghans hoped it would end 30 years of war. From their
:00:33. > :00:45.shattered nation, Hamid Karzai was chosen to lead. Then came the years
:00:46. > :00:53.of soaring hope, searing pain, and fear of the Taliban's return. Now
:00:54. > :01:00.Hamid Karzai blames his allies for much of his country's continuing
:01:01. > :01:07.violence. 13 years on he is preparing to step down. And we gain
:01:08. > :01:08.rare access to the palace to hear the President's reflections and
:01:09. > :01:27.regrets. Nice to see you, Mr President. A
:01:28. > :01:33.father lingers with his daughter before he heads to work. Hamid
:01:34. > :01:38.Karzai has taken care of Afghanistan for a decade and more and now has
:01:39. > :01:48.three young children. She is happy to say goodbye and not hello. She is
:01:49. > :01:51.not used to the cameras. That her father has been in the spotlight
:01:52. > :02:01.since the Taliban was toppled in 2001. My dear son, please go home,
:02:02. > :02:04.he urges the eight`year`old. But the grounds of this heavily fortified
:02:05. > :02:10.presidential palace are home, and almost every day for nearly 13 years
:02:11. > :02:16.the President has walked to work. With AIDS, bodyguards and armoured
:02:17. > :02:21.vehicles. Do you remember 13 years ago I stood outside there, December
:02:22. > :02:26.2001, and you had just come back from Kandahar and this is where you
:02:27. > :02:30.went. Your arrival to be the new leader of Afghanistan and the
:02:31. > :02:40.Taliban had just fallen. Yes, we went over there. Hello? Can we have
:02:41. > :02:42.your reaction to the news that you are the new chairman of the interim
:02:43. > :03:12.council? So it was the BBC who told you this
:03:13. > :03:29.news? A week later, Afghanistan's new
:03:30. > :03:36.leader made it to the capital. Once the fight in the Taliban in the
:03:37. > :03:43.South was over. What is your first priority, your most urgent one? The
:03:44. > :03:50.first priority is total peace and security for the people of
:03:51. > :03:57.Afghanistan. Together with that, to work very hard to provide our people
:03:58. > :04:04.as soon as possible and economic opportunity so that people earn a
:04:05. > :04:14.decent living. Also to continue to fight against terrorism, to make
:04:15. > :04:18.Afghanistan a country ruled by law. We will need help from international
:04:19. > :04:27.community the stability of Afghanistan. It was a sudden turn of
:04:28. > :04:34.fate for a man who had 20 years as a manager Dean spokesman during the
:04:35. > :04:45.war of Soviet occupation, who became a tribal chief after his father was
:04:46. > :04:53.murdered. `` mujahideen spokesman. Now Hamid Karzai symbol to the hopes
:04:54. > :04:56.of an entire generation. Suddenly there was change. Girls denied
:04:57. > :05:08.schooling by the Taliban could return to class. And Afghans could
:05:09. > :05:16.now decide their political future. In 2002, delegates descended on
:05:17. > :05:22.Kabul to attend a traditional assembly. They confirmed Hamid
:05:23. > :05:26.Karzai as leader of the year after he had been selected at a US
:05:27. > :05:35.conference. In these early, emotional moments, Afghans looked
:05:36. > :05:41.forward to a better future. Even if the men of the past, the warlords,
:05:42. > :05:43.still took up the front rows. Many Afghans asked why they were still
:05:44. > :05:50.there and still acting with impunity. There isn't a pervasive
:05:51. > :05:54.environment of fear. There are some people that may intimidate people.
:05:55. > :05:58.Human rights watch says people are literally afraid for their lives.
:05:59. > :06:03.They are wrong to say that. Some people may be afraid but the whole
:06:04. > :06:06.country is very enthusiastic. You should trust the Afghan nation, not
:06:07. > :06:21.the few outsiders who come here for a day or two. Everyone had a place
:06:22. > :06:28.in the new Afghanistan. It was Hamid Karzai's approach from the start. At
:06:29. > :06:31.the first ever popular elections in 2004, Afghans gave him a new mandate
:06:32. > :06:39.and they voted for him again in 2009. But by then doubts and
:06:40. > :06:45.discontent were setting in. So has Hamid Karzai been able to keep the
:06:46. > :06:49.promises he made to his people? We sit down together to look back at
:06:50. > :06:56.his time in power. In the past 13 years, what was your proudest
:06:57. > :07:02.moment? Well, plenty. Quite a few. Afghanistan became the home of all
:07:03. > :07:11.Afghans. We practised democracy. We voted. Education. Freedom of speech.
:07:12. > :07:18.Freedom of expression. Afghanistan's flag flying all over
:07:19. > :07:22.the world. Too many happy children. But sadly also too many children
:07:23. > :07:27.that became sad and lost their families and their own lives. You
:07:28. > :07:31.don't feel you have failed the Afghan people? I have served where I
:07:32. > :07:34.could in a great possible way. Where I have not been able to provide the
:07:35. > :07:39.Afghan people with what they needed, I hope the next President
:07:40. > :07:43.will. But so many Afghans are disappointed. When you leave power,
:07:44. > :07:51.Afghanistan will have an economy that is worsening. Taliban threats
:07:52. > :07:53.are still here and rising. Afghanistan for the past three years
:07:54. > :07:59.has been described as the most corrupt country in the world. Well,
:08:00. > :08:06.we still have problems. We are better country but we are still a
:08:07. > :08:12.poor country, among the poorest countries in the world. We have a
:08:13. > :08:16.long journey ahead of us as a nation to complete and the Taliban threat
:08:17. > :08:20.will be there and we will continue to seek peace. Some of the job is
:08:21. > :08:30.done and some of it is undone and left for the next President to be
:08:31. > :08:41.done. When Hamid Karzai took on this job, Afghanistan was broke. Even a
:08:42. > :08:45.new currency was launched. In 2002, we watched the President record a
:08:46. > :08:51.video to introduce the new Afghan notes. So did his top advisers,
:08:52. > :08:55.including the two men now vying to succeed him. Afghans asked where did
:08:56. > :09:04.all the money go? Billions in aid are said to have been lost to
:09:05. > :09:09.corruption. And in 2010, Kabul bank nearly collapsed, the place where
:09:10. > :09:14.poor Afghans were depositing their money made hefty loans to the
:09:15. > :09:17.well`connected, including the President's own family. Afghans say
:09:18. > :09:21.that one of the biggest problems has not been foreign forces but
:09:22. > :09:25.corruption and you have not done enough personally to fight against
:09:26. > :09:30.corruption. Your country is now regarded as the most corrupt in the
:09:31. > :09:39.world. Why did you look the other way? Depends on who you talk to. The
:09:40. > :09:45.surveys say it. Surveys by who? Western organisations, sure, they
:09:46. > :09:52.say that. So he refused to recognise corruption in Afghanistan? I don't
:09:53. > :09:56.refuse. Corruption is there in Afghanistan but who is behind it?
:09:57. > :10:02.Who brought the private security firms? Not Afghans. Who funded the
:10:03. > :10:06.private security firms? The British and Americans. Who brought in
:10:07. > :10:10.billions of dollars into those private security organisations that
:10:11. > :10:15.not only brought corruption but in security to Afghanistan? You blame
:10:16. > :10:20.everybody else. As the President you will not take responsibility for not
:10:21. > :10:24.taking action? Hang on. I have things to say. Who brought the
:10:25. > :10:31.contract? The Afghan Government did not bring any contracts. I did not
:10:32. > :10:35.sign any contract. It was the United States that did that and Afghanistan
:10:36. > :10:39.cannot be blamed for that. Of course Afghanistan has a complaint there.
:10:40. > :10:45.Afghanistan is responsible, my Government is responsible and I will
:10:46. > :10:46.take responsibility for the corruption in the day`to`day
:10:47. > :10:54.administration and delivery of services. The big money is neither
:10:55. > :10:58.ours nor did we have control of it. When outsiders look at the wealth
:10:59. > :11:02.that has been accumulated by members of your Government, by prominent
:11:03. > :11:07.people in your country, they ask how that can happen when so many people
:11:08. > :11:10.are living in poverty. They did not earn that through Government
:11:11. > :11:15.salaries. Exactly. Where did it come from? From contracts. Why did you
:11:16. > :11:24.not hold any of these people accountable? I did. A lot has been
:11:25. > :11:34.done. Hamid Karzai began as a leader who wanted to be close to his
:11:35. > :11:43.people. So close his admirers and would`be assassins could reach him.
:11:44. > :11:49.We filmed these exclusive pictures in Kandahar less than a year after
:11:50. > :12:00.he came to power. The Taliban were blamed for this attempt. They came
:12:01. > :12:07.close. I did not even know who was firing where so... I am safe and
:12:08. > :12:15.sound. Do you feel shaken? No, I am fine. I expect things like that. I
:12:16. > :12:21.have been through it before. Attacks by the Taliban and other armed
:12:22. > :12:28.groups have grown over the years. In strength and sophistication. Suicide
:12:29. > :12:33.bombings are reaching even the heart of the heavily protected capital.
:12:34. > :12:38.Despite efforts at peace talks, Taliban violence is killing more and
:12:39. > :12:42.more Afghans. Many Afghans are worried that once foreign combat
:12:43. > :12:46.troops leave that you will be in the same situation as Iraq, and in your
:12:47. > :12:52.case it will be the rise of the Taliban, that they could make a
:12:53. > :12:56.comeback. Do you also share that concern? No, I don't. The Afghan
:12:57. > :13:04.Taliban want peace. They are in contact with us every day. In my
:13:05. > :13:13.opinion... If they want peace why are they continuing to attack the
:13:14. > :13:17.vast majority of civilians? In my opinion, the Afghan Taliban want
:13:18. > :13:28.peace and I know this. I also know that peace in Afghanistan, to the
:13:29. > :13:35.extent of power here, is in the hands of Pakistan. If they cooperate
:13:36. > :13:39.with us for peace, we will be peaceful. The Taliban alone will not
:13:40. > :13:44.be able to bring peace to us because there is a different hand at play
:13:45. > :13:54.and that and is not the Taliban. Worth their missed opportunities to
:13:55. > :14:01.talk to the Taliban? `` were there? I worked very, very hard. No Afghan
:14:02. > :14:06.President has ever done so much to bring our allies, the Americans and
:14:07. > :14:11.others, to work for peace with us. Somehow they didn't want it. They
:14:12. > :14:17.didn't want it? The Taliban didn't want it? Nobody wanted it. The
:14:18. > :14:22.Taliban, as I told you before, they do want peace, they are just not in
:14:23. > :14:26.charge. They said they did not want to talk to you because they called
:14:27. > :14:34.to an American puppet. But they do talk to me. A spokesman says that
:14:35. > :14:46.and we don't know where they speak from. The Afghan Taliban are in
:14:47. > :14:49.contact with me every day. International forces came to
:14:50. > :14:56.Afghanistan after the Taliban was toppled. First to Kabul and then
:14:57. > :15:06.across the country. I have a son his age, his size. At their peak in
:15:07. > :15:14.2011, US`led NATO forces amounted to 140,000 troops from 50 nations. But
:15:15. > :15:22.the Taliban, with sanctuaries in neighbouring Pakistan, still
:15:23. > :15:26.exhibited strength. From his first years in power, Hamid Karzai urged
:15:27. > :15:30.his allies to tackle terrorism at its source. It has been one of the
:15:31. > :15:35.main issues that strained his relationship with Washington, almost
:15:36. > :15:42.to breaking point. When you accused the West of not wanting to carry out
:15:43. > :15:46.a genuine war on terror, a war against violence, they find that
:15:47. > :15:49.incomprehensible, that she would not believe they were here because they
:15:50. > :15:55.are also suffering from this war on terror. They are suffering, as I
:15:56. > :16:03.said earlier, as I said jawing this interview, `` juror in this
:16:04. > :16:09.interview, the war on terror was not to be found in the Afghan villages.
:16:10. > :16:15.They agreed with me time and again that, yes, there are sanctuaries
:16:16. > :16:18.beyond Afghanistan, training places beyond Afghanistan, and that is
:16:19. > :16:23.where the troubles are. They never tried to go and address that. So
:16:24. > :16:34.that makes my conviction that there was no real effort at a genuine
:16:35. > :16:37.campaign against terrorism. The West finds it outrageous that you would
:16:38. > :16:43.want to cause instability across the region. The consequences are what we
:16:44. > :16:49.see. Our intention is a different issue. I can't say whether they
:16:50. > :16:54.intended it this way or not. The intentions are hidden from us. But I
:16:55. > :16:58.see the results. The result is that there is a lot more instability.
:16:59. > :17:04.There is a lot more violence across the region will stop I hope that can
:17:05. > :17:10.be reversed and I hope that I am found out to be wrong one day by the
:17:11. > :17:17.West, by their good work to bring more stability to the region, and to
:17:18. > :17:21.the entire international community. Afghanistan and Iraq are different
:17:22. > :17:24.countries but both had billions of dollars of investment from the
:17:25. > :17:27.United States and other countries and both have significant training
:17:28. > :17:32.of their Armed Forces. What we are seeing in Iraq is that it is just
:17:33. > :17:38.crumbling. There is a risk it could also happen here. Iraq was a solid
:17:39. > :17:45.country before the Americans went in. Exactly. It's Afghanistan in a
:17:46. > :17:49.weaker position? Afghanistan has been a solid country for thousands
:17:50. > :17:58.of years. Foreign forces have not brought instability to Afghanistan.
:17:59. > :18:05.`` brought stability. Afghanistan will be kept by the Afghans as it
:18:06. > :18:09.was in the past kept by Afghans. Yes, we need international support
:18:10. > :18:18.where we do not have the means to sustain ourselves. That is welcome
:18:19. > :18:21.and for that we are grateful. For a president who promised his people
:18:22. > :18:28.peace there is still much suffering, so many civilian casualties. He has
:18:29. > :18:34.been powerless to stop it and it pains him.
:18:35. > :19:16.And now the Karzai years are coming to an end. As he begins the day he
:19:17. > :19:23.asks his aides for the latest on the vote count in the presidential
:19:24. > :19:28.election. Are you worried that the peaceful transfer of power could be
:19:29. > :19:31.at risk. Tensions are already rising with both sides alleging there was
:19:32. > :19:40.fraud. There are even accusations against you. The elections, as you
:19:41. > :19:44.know, all over the world, they have emotions involved. Afghanistan will
:19:45. > :19:50.be no exception. There will be emotions involved, there will be
:19:51. > :19:53.demands of the election body and certainly on the president of the
:19:54. > :20:01.country. I understand that perfectly well. And we will deal with those
:20:02. > :20:08.difficulties and those emotions as they arise, as they come across our
:20:09. > :20:16.way. But we should make sure, all of us, that the vote of the Afghan
:20:17. > :20:22.people is respected. And good vote is separated from bad vote. Where
:20:23. > :20:28.there are a irregularities, they are addressed. 13 years ago Hamid Karzai
:20:29. > :20:35.took the world by storm with his charm and charisma and that
:20:36. > :20:42.distinctive silk cloak. Rebuilding a shattered land turned out to be far
:20:43. > :20:46.more difficult than anyone expected. Mr President, you say Afghanistan
:20:47. > :20:56.has changed, but what about you? How have you changed since you came here
:20:57. > :21:06.on September the 13th 2001. More experienced, more realistic and
:21:07. > :21:16.hardened. Baked. Baked? Baked into becoming hard. Exhausted? Fed up?
:21:17. > :21:22.Exhausted, yes. Fed up, no. What will you do with when you leave
:21:23. > :21:26.office? I will be a retired president, stay in my country. The
:21:27. > :21:30.government has built me a very nice house and I will keep advising
:21:31. > :21:37.Afghans to have good relations with the West, good relations with
:21:38. > :21:41.America, to learn from what they have offered the world, to educate
:21:42. > :21:47.our children. But to sustain ourselves and stand on our own feet,
:21:48. > :21:53.not be reliant on anybody but on our own hard work and toil. Many say you
:21:54. > :21:57.will leave the office but you will not quite leave power. You will
:21:58. > :22:01.still have influence and live right next door to your office. Influence
:22:02. > :22:13.is one thing but power is another thing. I was not interested in power
:22:14. > :22:21.even when I was a president. I did not exercise the same power as
:22:22. > :22:26.someone else would. Power is not a good thing for me. Influence is
:22:27. > :22:30.different. It is accepted. If the Afghans feel I have contributions to
:22:31. > :22:35.make to the country to make it better, to provide advice to the
:22:36. > :22:38.next president, I will be there. If the next president asks me for
:22:39. > :22:44.advice I will offer it. I will back him and support him. I will be a
:22:45. > :22:52.loyal subject to the next president. Does it hurt you that you went from
:22:53. > :22:57.being the darling of the West, to now being in a situation where in
:22:58. > :23:01.the West many find it very difficult to say anything good about you? I
:23:02. > :23:07.would like to be the darling of the Afghan people. I'm an Afghan, the
:23:08. > :23:10.president of Afghanistan, I will be living in Afghanistan. I would like
:23:11. > :23:14.to be the darling of the Afghan people, I would like to be liked by
:23:15. > :23:18.the Afghan people. I would like to be seen as having served the cause
:23:19. > :23:24.of the Afghan people, having spoken up for them. I might not even visit
:23:25. > :23:32.the West if the need to does not arise. I respect the West. It is a
:23:33. > :23:36.great society. While considering myself a citizen of the world, a
:23:37. > :23:45.fellow human being, and in the category of... You know... Of
:23:46. > :23:49.belonging, I first belonged to Afghanistan, and then to this
:23:50. > :23:56.region, and then perhaps to the world. What is your greatest regret?
:23:57. > :24:07.My greatest regret... There would be many, many... Do you wish you'd done
:24:08. > :24:12.things differently? Lack of peace is a regret I will take with me. I wish
:24:13. > :24:18.Afghanistan had peace. I wish there was not so much loss of life in
:24:19. > :24:19.Afghanistan and I wish the war on terror was fought genuinely in the
:24:20. > :24:34.right place. For many years Hamid Karzai has had
:24:35. > :24:35.a routine. Within these palace walls, surrounded by aids and
:24:36. > :24:52.security barriers. Mr President, it is so beautiful
:24:53. > :24:55.here, some might say it is the most beautiful prison in the world. You
:24:56. > :24:59.have hardly been able to leave the palace. It is not a prison. It is a
:25:00. > :25:11.house. President Karzai, for nearly 13
:25:12. > :25:16.years you took care of an entire nation and now it is time to take
:25:17. > :25:19.care of your family. Sure. She should go to a good school and study
:25:20. > :26:08.and learn the languages. STUDIO: Your impression of this
:26:09. > :26:12.weekend's weather will depend on where you live. Contrast today under
:26:13. > :26:15.clear skies for the east of the UK, and it has been warming up a lot.
:26:16. > :26:16.Further west we have