Karzai Echoes Obama Call for Afghan Battle Corruption

Roger Runningen and James Rupert Tue Nov 3, 7:03 AM ET

Nov. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai echoed President Barack Obama’s call for a fight against corruption and lawlessness that have helped fuel Afghanistan’s Taliban insurgency.

“Afghanistan has a bad name from corruption,” Karzai said in his first public remarks since being declared re-elected, the Associated Press reported. “We will do our best through all possible means to eliminate this dark stain,” he said at a press conference in Kabul, the capital.

As he spoke, Karzai was flanked by his two vice- presidential running mates, including General Muhammad Qassim Fahim, accused by former U.S. officials of corruption and human rights abuses. To win a second term, Karzai allied himself with several regional strongmen such as Fahim whose presence in the government appears to limit chances for a real anti-corruption drive, said Ahmed Nader Nadery, chairman of the Free and Fair Election Foundation of Afghanistan.

Karzai’s vow came after Obama said he had called the Afghan leader and urged “a much more serious effort to eradicate corruption.” Karzai “assured me that he understood the importance of this moment,” Obama told reporters in Washington yesterday. “But as I indicated to him, proof is not going to be in words, it’s going to be in deeds.”

In London, Prime Minister Gordon Brown also stressed the importance of wiping out corruption in Afghanistan, telling reporters that Karzai must build “a blemish-free government.”

‘Immediate Action’

“We want and he will want to make clear that he is going to take immediate action against corruption,” the prime minister said, referring to Karzai.

Brown described the task as “extremely challenging” and said he looked forward to “further indications” from Karzai about how he will tackle it.

The role in Karzai’s government of Fahim may become a major issue, according to Hillary Mann Leverett, a National Security Council director for Afghan affairs in the George W. Bush administration. Fahim is “a human-rights-abusing, drug- trafficking warlord,” Leverett wrote in an August essay in Foreign Policy magazine.

Runoff Cancelled

“I challenge you: if someone can find one shred of evidence, I will hang myself,” Fahim said last month, denying such allegations in an interview with the New York Times. The former guerrilla commander, who will serve as first vice- president in the new government, did not speak at today’s press conference with Karzai.

Afghanistan’s election commission canceled a scheduled Nov. 7 runoff between Karzai and former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah after Abdullah dropped out. The first round of voting in August was marred by fraud.

Ending the disputed election clears one obstacle to an Obama decision about U.S. strategy in Afghanistan. White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel last month suggested the U.S. may hold off on a decision on sending more troops until a “legitimate and credible government” is in place.

“Although the process was messy, I’m pleased to say that the final outcome was determined in accordance with Afghan law,” Obama told reporters after a White House meeting with the president of the European Union, Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, who is in Washington for a U.S.-EU summit today.

‘Legitimate Leader’

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs earlier yesterday said Karzai is the “legitimate leader” of the country. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said today in Morocco the U.S. will support Karzai “but we’re expecting more” including a “serious effort against corruption.”

The declaration of Karzai as victor has “defused much of the uncertainty” and “provides the international community with a partner to work with,” Jan Zalewski, a London-based Afghanistan analyst at political risk consultants IHS Global Insight, said in an e-mail.

Administration officials have said the political credibility of Afghanistan’s government is crucial to the success of U.S. efforts to stabilize the country and defeat extremists.

Gibbs said the president will make a decision in the “next few weeks” about the future course in Afghanistan, including whether to send more American troops to fight in the war, now in its eighth year.

U.S. Troops

The U.S. has committed 68,000 troops to the Afghanistan conflict and Obama is weighing whether to send as many as 40,000 more. The administration also is pressing other members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to put more resources into the fight.

Obama has been meeting with his top military and foreign policy advisers to discuss options for Afghanistan and recommendations made by General Stanley McChrystal, the commander of U.S. and NATO forces there.

Obama said he emphasized to Karzai “that the American people and the international community as a whole want to continue to partner with him and his government.”

Members of Congress joined Obama in ratcheting up the pressure on Karzai to improve his credibility.

“It is an opportunity for the government of President Karzai to demonstrate genuine progress in combating corruption, establishing rule of law and bringing measurable improvement to peoples’ lives,” said Massachusetts Democrat John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Building an inclusive, corruption-free government which will “tackle the problem of bringing prosperity” to the Afghan people, and building up the Afghan military and police will allow British and other troops to come, Brown said. Britain has about 9,000 troops in Afghanistan, the second biggest contingent after the U.S.

‘Set Example’

The solution in Afghanistan will require not only the security that the U.S. and its allies are providing and training Afghan security forces to maintain, but also a better connection between Karzai and his people, said Ike Skelton, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.

“He’s just going to have to set an example and insist on taking care of the people, and rid the government of corruption,” Skelton, a Missouri Democrat, said in a telephone interview. “He should realize this is his one chance.”

Given the scale of the challenges, the probable weak structure of any Karzai administration, and the strain in ties between the Afghan leader and U.S. government in recent months “it remains rather unlikely that much headway will be made with regard to Afghanistan’s multiple problems,” Zalewski said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Roger Runningen in Washington at rrunningen@bloomberg.net ; James Rupert in New Delhi at jrupert3@bloomberg.net .