"The constitution of Afghanistan does not allow anyone to run for the presidency for more than two terms," the statement quoted Karzai as telling a group of parliamentarians.[break]
He "will not try to run for the presidency for the third time", it added.
Karzai was sworn in as interim leader of Afghanistan in December 2001, shortly after the US-led invasion toppled the Taliban.
In 2004, he won the country´s first direct presidential elections with 55.4 percent of the vote.
But his re-election in 2009 was mired in allegations of corruption, in which challenger Abdullah Abdullah abandoned a second-round run-off and investigators threw out a third of Karzai’s original votes because of fraud.
Thursday´s announcement comes the day after Karzai handed authority for resolving a long-running row over vote-rigging in last September´s parliamentary elections to the Independent Election Commission.
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