U.S. considers cancelling Karzai visit

The White House says it is considering cancelling a visit by Afghan President Hamid Karzai if his remarks continue to be troubling.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters during his daily briefing on Tuesday that "we certainly would evaluate whatever continued or further remarks President Karzai makes as to whether that's constructive to have such a meeting, sure."

Karzai is due to meet with President Barack Obama at the White House on May 12.

Asked if Karzai is an ally of the U.S., Gibbs would only refer to him as the democratically elected leader of Afghanistan. He called Karzai's claims of Western blame for the fraud in Afghanistan's presidential election last year untrue. 

"The remarks he made, I can't imagine that anybody in this country found them anything other than troubling," Gibbs said.

Relations warmer during March visit

The cooling off in relations contrasts with what appeared to be warmer interactions during a surprise visit to Afghanistan by Obama on March 28.

At the time, Obama said he was pleased with progress made since his last discussion with Karzai on March 15 and extended the invitation for Karzai's visit.

"Progress will continue to be made … but we also want to continue to make progress on the civilian front," Obama said, referring to anti-corruption efforts, good governance and adherence to the rule of law. "All of these things end up resulting in an Afghanistan that is more prosperous and more secure."

Karzai promised his country "would move forward into the future" to eventually take over its own security, and he thanked Obama for the U.S. intervention in his country.

He told Obama he has begun to establish more credible national institutions on corruption and made clear he intends to make ministerial appointments more representative of the multiple ethnic and geographic regions of the country, according to a U.S. account of the meeting.