Hamid Karzai was today sworn-in as Afghan President for the second term with a vow to rid the country of terrorism. He was administered the oath of office by the head of Supreme Court Abdul Salam Azmi at a grand ceremony at the Presidential Palace in the presence of 800 guests, including External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, US Secretary of StateHillary Clinton and Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari. In his first public address on taking over after an election marred by allegations of fraud, Karzai pledged to get rid of the corruption and reached out to his political rivals offering to form a government of national unity. The 51-year-old Afghan leader appreciated India's aid of 1.3 billion US Dollars for his country's reconstruction and said he would make efforts to expand and strengthen ties with neighbours based on mutual respect and genuine friendship. With the country facing intense resurgence by Taliban, Karzai said, he will utilise all national and international resources to put an end to war and fratricide.Karzai was declared re-elected to the Presidency on the 2nd of this month by the country's independent Election Commission after Abdullah withdrew from the run-off, which was ordered following a UN-backed commission's findings that nearly a third of the votes cast on August 20 were fraudulent.