An accomplished diplomat Peter Galbriath attracted the ire of Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai for publicly criticising presidential poll and casting doubt on its authenticity. He went one step further by asking Afghan authorities to order recounting of all the votes. In addition, there is another story doing the rounds he also had organisational and management hiccups with another senior UN envoy to Afghanistan Kai Eide who was against his public outburst concerning validity of elections. According to one more interpretation, he was not in good terms with many senior Afghan officials who were not willing to work with him.  

The move of removing controversial envoy from Afghanistan, however, has found many takers, according to some it will help UN to focus more on developmental issues but political.     

When asked to comment on Peter Galbriath, Kai Eide who has a long association with him said, “He was a valuable deputy and they could work together in future as well.” But it is believed his comment was diplomatic that reveals less and hides more.       

Peter Galbriath in his illustrious career has held many coveted positions of international importance, these include senior adviser to US Senate Committee formed on foreign relations, US Ambassador to Croatia and Director of Political, Constitutional and Electoral Affairs for the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor.