* Afghan finance minister says Karzai "extremely weak man"
* Karzai ministers collaborated to stop him going astray
By Michelle Nichols KABUL, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Senior ministers in Afghan President Hamid Karzai's government feared he was easily swayed by "bizarre stories of plots against him" and agreed to collaborate in a bid to stop him "going astray", leaked U.S. diplomatic cables showed. Afghan Finance Minister Omar Zakhilwal described Karzai as an "extremely weak man" who did not listen to facts, the cable said, while former Interior Minister Hanif Atmar claimed Karzai did not understand U.S. policy in the region.
Karzai's chief of staff Omar Dawoodzai suggested in February that some supporters of the president "shared serious concerns" about Karzai's actions and The Guardian newspaper reported that Dawoodzai told U.S. officials in 2009 he was "ashamed" when Karzai pardoned border police caught with heroin.
Mohammad Masoom Stanekzai, the minister responsible for reintegrating Islamist insurgents, said he believes Karzai was behind threats against him after he refused to remove two election candidates from a blacklist so they could stand, The Guardian reported.
Zakhilwal told U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry in February that an "inner circle ... had decided they must collaborate to influence Karzai when they see him going astray on such matters."
"They reportedly pledged that if Karzai took umbrage at them raising such sensitive issues, they would defend each other," said the cable, which was among more than 250,000 leaked U.S. diplomatic cables obtained by the WikiLeaks website.
Zakhilwal said Karzai "did not listen to facts but was instead easily swayed by anyone who came to him to report even the most bizarre stories of plots against him."
"Whenever this happened, Karzai would immediately judge the person to be loyal and would reward him," the cable said.
Education Minister Farooq Wardak said Karzai's behavior regarding electoral reforms after a Presidential poll marred by widespread fraud "was comparable to the power-grabs of the mujahedin in 1991-1992."
The Afghan government brushed off a similar dump of leaked U.S. cables on Monday that had included disparaging portrayals of the Afghan leader by the United States with Karzai's spokesman saying they would not strain ties with Washington.
But it was unclear how Karzai might respond to similar criticisms from within his own government. Karzai's spokesman declined immediate comment on Friday.
In a July 7, 2009 cable, Eikenberry wrote that Hanif Atmar, who resigned as Interior Minister in June over security lapses that led to an insurgent attack on a peace conference addressed by Karzai, said Karzai's world view was swayed by several paranoias.
Among them, Karzai suspected the United States was considering a short term strategy to leave Afghanistan within two years and that it was working to weaken Pashtuns -- the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan -- on the Afghan-Pakistani border.
In the same cable Eikenberry said he "urged Karzai to move away from conspiratorial thinking and instead focus on bringing ideas for the future."
(Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
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