Washington: In what could be a historic first, US Senators on Thursday welcomed Afghan President Hamid Karzai onto the Senate floor in the middle of a debate and treated him to a standing ovation.
Karzai, on a visit to Washington to patch up sometimes strained ties with President Barack Obama, walked among the ornate wooden desks, shaking hands with key lawmakers including Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and his Republican counterpart, Mitch McConnell.
It is not uncommon for foreign parliamentarians to visit the Senate floor.
But Associate Senate Historian Betty Koed said it was not clear when, if ever, another foreign head of state had done so. She noted that West German Chancellor Kurt Kiesinger had addressed the chamber on August 16, 1967.
Access to the US Senate floor is tightly restricted, and
Karzai needed formal permission - which was secured by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, a Democrat.
"I would like to ask unanimous consent that the president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, be permitted the privileges of coming on the floor to be greeted by the United States Senate, together with his ministers who are here for a series of important meetings," said Kerry.
As Karzai and his entourage toured the chamber, lawmakers resumed their debate on an amendment to a sweeping overhaul of regulations on the finance industry, amid a steady buzz of chatter among senators and their VIP guest.
The unusual visit from the Afghan leader came after he raised eyebrows in Washington by charging that foreigners plotted fraud in Afghan elections, and amid US concerns about his battle against corruption.
Asked whether that period of tension was over, Kerry told reporters: "Absolutely. Completely. There's no question in my mind."
"We have some differences here and there," the senators said, stressing that the key measure would be "what happens over the next weeks and months."