Obama returns home without meeting Karzai during surprise visit to Afghanistan

U.S. President Barack Obama did not meet his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai, as he paid a surprise visit to Afghanistan.

After spending a few hours with U.S. troops in Bagram airbase, 50 km north of Kabul, Obama had returned home.

Meanwhile, the Afghan Presidential Palace, in a statement said that Karzai had refused to meet Obama in the Bagram military base, Xinhua reported.

The statement said that U.S. Embassy to Afghanistan had conveyed the wish of Obama for meeting with Karzai in Bagram military base, but the president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan said his government is ready to welcome the U.S. president in Arg and does not want to go to Bagram.

The Presidential Palace, in another statement sent to media, said that Obama late Sunday night phoned Karzai to congratulate him over successfully holding presidential and provincial council elections on April 5.

The two leaders during the telephone conversations discussed the peace process in Afghanistan.