In the villages of central Afghanistan, people are listening to it...in Kandahar, people are listening to it

Hamid Karzai

Many people tuned into the BBC's Pashto and Persian services as a source of independent news.

"It has credibility," said Mr Karzai. "When I have been in the villages of central Afghanistan, people are listening to it. When I've been in Kandahar, people are listening to it."

BBC World Service director Mark Byford said: "We know we are highly valued - nowhere more so than in Afghanistan".

Worldwide fall

Before the fall of the Taleban more than 60% of the people of Afghanistan were thought to listen to the BBC every day, although detailed market research is not available.

The journalists, mainly Afghans in exile, aimed to convey the atmosphere of events around the world to a population which was almost entirely isolated from the outside world.

The service also informed Afghans about the course of events as America launched its war against terrorism inside Afghanistan.

At least 150 million people listen to the World Service internationally each week - more than any other international broadcaster.

The latest figures, released on Tuesday, are down by three million, mainly because of a drop in listeners in India where more and more people have started watching television instead.