KABUL, March 2 (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai has replaced the governor of the southern province of Helmand, a state newspaper said on Sunday, the official whose complaint led to the expulsion of two senior European diplomats late last year.

Afghanistan's expulsion of the acting head of the EU mission Michael Semple and UN political officer Mervyn Patterson in December led to a diplomatic row with international community, particularly Britain which has some 7,000 troops in Helmand.

Asadullah Wafa, then governor of Helmand, had complained to President Hamid Karzai that Irishman Semple and Briton Patterson had been negotiating with the Taliban in his province without his knowledge and had plans to pay off militant leaders.

Karzai then expelled the pair. The president later further heightened tensions with Britain, by complaining he had been wrong to listen to British advice to remove a previous governor of Helmand accused by London of cruelty and involvement in the flourishing drugs trade, which is centred in Helmand.

British actions in Helmand, one of Afghanistan's most dangerous regions, had made matters worse, Karzai said.

Karzai later insisted he had been misquoted, but the expulsion of the two diplomats and the president's criticism of Britain's role in Helmand marked a low point in relations between London and Kabul.

The president awarded Wafa a medal for his services at a ceremony on Saturday and appointed him head of the complaints department at the presidential palace, the Anis newspaper said.

In his place, Karzai appointed Gulab Mangal as governor of Helmand, a man seen as a capable administrator, but one without local ties to the volatile and tribally divided province, which diplomats said might limit his influence there.

Sometimes tense relations between Karzai who is slowly gearing up for elections next year and Western governments with troops in Afghanistan may harm efforts to combat the resurgent Taliban who have vowed to renew a campaign of suicide attacks this year to oust the Afghan government and foreign troops. (Writing by Jon Hemming; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)

AlertNet news is provided by