By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer
UNITED NATIONS – A former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and Afghanistan says he is not looking for a post in the Afghan government.

Zalmay Khalilzad said Tuesday night that he saw Afghan President Hamid Karzai, whom he has known for more than 25 years, several times during his recent trip to Washington. He said they discussed a range of issues from U.S.-Afghan relations to the war, the upcoming election, Afghan-Pakistan problems, and ideas on strengthening the executive branch.

Diplomats and American officials said Karzai mentioned the idea of a high-level position in the Afghan government for Khalilzad during meetings with top aides to President Barack Obama. They spoke on condition of anonymity because Khalilzad's possible role is still speculative. Obama administration officials declined to comment publicly on the proposal.

The possibility of Khalilzad taking a top job in his native Afghanistan was first reported by the New York Times which said he was in talks with Karzai about becoming a "chief executive officer" of the country and had visited Kabul last week to discuss the position.

Khalilzad, however, denied that he was negotiating with Karzai to run the country and said he had not left the United States since the Afghan leader was in Washington earlier this month.

"Obviously I care about Afghanistan," Khalilzad told The Associated Press. "I've always said that I would help. That shouldn't be taken that I was a candidate for president or a candidate for the CEO job."

"I am not looking for a job for myself in the government of Afghanistan," he repeated several times in a telephone interview. "I'm not negotiating with Karzai for a position for CEO."

Khalilzad said that when he was the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan from 2003-2005, there were discussions on how to strengthen the country's executive branch because the constitution created a powerful presidency. He said such discussions began again more recently because the Afghan government was facing increasing challenges.

When British Prime Minister Gordon Brown visited Kabul recently, he reportedly talked to Karzai about creating a CEO post, among other ideas for strengthening the executive branch, Khalilzad said.

One suggestion was to strengthen the country's National Security Council and to create a new governance council, which would improve state institutions in local areas and tackle corruption and the narcotics trade, and a new council to focus on services, Khalilzad said.

Another idea was to combine these three councils into a single council, he said.

Khalilzad said Karzai had discussed such ideas with a number of people in the U.S. and was discussing the suggestions with Afghans back home.

In Kabul, Afghan government spokesman Waheed Omar would not deny that discussions about a high-level post had taken place.

"We are certainly looking into the ways to improve government and the administration. In this regards, talks have been held. Any improvements within the government would have to adhere to the constitution. So far it is too early to talk about a specific post for a specific person," Omar told The Associated Press.

The Afghan constitution says the country has a presidential system of governance with no role for a prime minister.

Khalilzad, who came to America as an exchange student and then became a citizen, served as the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, Iraq and then the United Nations under former President George W. Bush.

After leaving the U.N. post when Obama was inaugurated in January, Khalilzad moved to Washington where he is a counselor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He is also the CEO of Khalilzad Associates, an international consulting firm, and is forming a non-profit organization to focus on education issues in Afghanistan and other developing countries.

Rumors have been rampant since Khalilzad's diplomatic tour in Kabul that he wants at some point to run for president of Afghanistan, something he has repeatedly and adamantly denied. "I'm not a candidate for president," he reiterated Tuesday night.