The Times
Jerome Starkey in Jalalabad

The eyes of the world were on Kabul this morning but most were forced to watch through the shaky lens of Afghanistan’s national broadcaster.

Grainy pictures of President Karzai were accompanied by the occasional sound of pop music and mobile ring tones — mysteriously added in at the studio — as staff at Radio Television Afghanistan muddled through a 60-minute live broadcast of his inauguration.

Strict security measures meant that most of Kabul’s journalists were barred from the ceremony. It was held in a banquet hall in the “Presidential Palace”, instead of the city’s parade ground where insurgents tried to assassinate Mr Karzai last year. RTA’s images, with the washed-out colours of archive footage, were pooled around the world.

In his trademark green coat and grey astrakhan hat, Mr Karzai approached the stage to a blast of indecipherable Afghan pop. (Read more)