@PresHamidKarzai Twitter account a fake

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The Afghan presidency confirmed Monday that a fake Twitter account had been set up in the name of Hamid Karzai, one which described a US soldier’s killing of 16 Afghan civilians as an “act of war”.

The handle @PresHamidKarzai, which began tweeting on Monday with the announcement: “Welcome to my Official Twitter Account. Hamid Karzai” was not authentic, deputy presidential spokesman Siamak Hirawai told AFP.

The account was not officially verified by the micro-blogging website and the second tweet raised further suspicions by describing Sunday’s killing spree by an American soldier as “an act of war against our country”.

“I deny such tweets are tweeted on behalf of the presidential palace of Afghanistan. The president does not have any account nor (does) he use Twitter,” Hirawai said.

In a statement released by his office on Sunday, the Afghan leader described the Kandahar killings as an “unforgivable” murder.

(The Twitter homepage appears on a screen in Washington in September 2010. The Afghan presidency confirmed Monday that a fake Twitter account had been set up in the name of Hamid Karzai, one which described a US soldier’s killing of 16 Afghan civilians as an “act of war,” via AFP)