"The relationship is maturing, the room for substantive reflection on both sides is widening, and this is something that is going to take us to another level of partnership," Karzai's spokesman, Waheed Omer, told reporters.

Karzai is thought to have an uneasy relationship with U.S. General David Petraeus, the overall commander of foreign troops in Afghanistan and author of the counterinsurgency strategy.

Omer said Karzai was not a critic of the overall strategy but had voiced his views on how it could be improved.

In the interview, Karzai said the United States should end U.S. Special Operations forces night raids, a part of Petraeus' counter-insurgency strategy, saying they are a serious cause of Afghan disenchantment with NATO and with his own government.

In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she shared Karzai's concerns but saw the raids as necessary.

"There is no question that they are having a significant impact on the insurgent leadership and the networks that they operate," she told reporters, arguing that they were in the interest of Afghanistan's people, government and NATO forces.

Corruption, Bribes

Endemic corruption in Afghanistan has badly damaged Karzai's relationship with his Western backers, leaving them to question whether they are dealing with a credible partner, another issue that will be considered in Lisbon.

Karzai won a fraud-marred election last year and there still are no final results from September 18 parliamentary elections after thousands of complaints were filed.

The U.N.-backed Electoral Complaints Commission said it had finished verifying 2,495 complaints that could affect the outcome and would send its findings to election officials so final results could be announced as soon as possible.

Afghan officials have called the election a success despite almost a quarter of the votes cast being thrown out as tainted. Scores of candidates have alleged bribe-taking or fraud by election officials and called for a new poll.

International observers have been more cautious, saying it was remarkable the vote was conducted at a time of war but also noting there had been "considerable fraud."

With no new parliament on the immediate horizon, Karzai's government still has a shaky look and some ministries still are being run by caretakers.

At the same time, there seems little hope of an immediate end to the violence. The NATO-led

International Security Assistance Force said on Monday five of its troops had been killed in a clash with insurgents in the east on Sunday, its worst loss in a single incident in six months.

At least 645 have been killed so far in 2010, by far the deadliest year of the war.

Also on Monday, the Taliban said it had fired rockets at an ISAF base in eastern Kunar province, setting ablaze a huge fuel container. In the north, nine police and militia and eight insurgents were killed in a pitched gunbattle in Kunduz.