“This whole 12 years was one of constant pleading with America to treat the lives of our civilians as lives of people,” he said, adding that he had not spoken to Mr Obama since June.

“We met in South Africa [at Mandela’s funeral] but didn’t speak. Letters have been exchanged.”

Mr Karzai said that he “saw no good” in the American presence in his country.

“They did not work for me, they worked against me,” he said, and referred to the Taliban in his interview with The Sunday Times as “brothers” and the Americans as “rivals”.