Politics
Afghanistan: Karzai pledges to fight corruption
Kabul, 3 Nov. (AKI) - A day after Afghanistan's president, Hamid Karzai, was declared the winner of the country's controversial election, he vowed to remove the "stigma" of corruption in the country. He also pledged to lead an inclusive government "for all Afghans".
In his first remarks since being declared the winner of the August poll that was marred by fraud, Karzai also pledged to lead an inclusive government for all Afghans.
"Our government has been seriously discredited by administrative corruption," Karzai said at a media conference in the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Tuesday.
"We will try to remove this stigma from our soil and our country in any possible way."
He also appealed to the Taliban to work with the government.
"We call on our Taliban brothers to come home and embrace their land," Karzai said.
The Taliban said in a statement it would continue its fight against the government and dismissed Karzai as "a puppet".
US president Barack Obama said he told Karzai in a congratulatory phone call on Monday that his second term of office "had to be a point in time in which we begin to write a new chapter."
His words have been widely interpreted as a sharp warning that the American public would not back a significant increase in resources unless the new Afghan government is fully committed to tackling the corruption and bad governance that dogged Karzai's first term.
Afghan politicians with ties to Karzai said they expected him to try to restore credibility abroad by offering cabinet posts to supporters of his chief rival, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah.
Poll officials on Monday cancelled the planned second round of the election vote. The Independent Election Commission announcement came a day after Karzai's only rival, Abdullah Abdullah, withdrew from the race.
Abdullah, a former foreign minister, had demanded the resignation of key poll officials and said he did not believe there would be a fair vote after the first round of voting was overshadowed by mass electoral fraud.
Karzai's relations with western nations have cooled since he was first elected in 2004, amid allegations of widespread corruption in his administration.
Obama is currently considering whether to send up to 40,000 more troops to Afghanistan to combat an increasingly violent Taliban-led insurgency.
In his first remarks since being declared the winner of the August poll that was marred by fraud, Karzai also pledged to lead an inclusive government for all Afghans.
"Our government has been seriously discredited by administrative corruption," Karzai said at a media conference in the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Tuesday.
"We will try to remove this stigma from our soil and our country in any possible way."
He also appealed to the Taliban to work with the government.
"We call on our Taliban brothers to come home and embrace their land," Karzai said.
The Taliban said in a statement it would continue its fight against the government and dismissed Karzai as "a puppet".
US president Barack Obama said he told Karzai in a congratulatory phone call on Monday that his second term of office "had to be a point in time in which we begin to write a new chapter."
His words have been widely interpreted as a sharp warning that the American public would not back a significant increase in resources unless the new Afghan government is fully committed to tackling the corruption and bad governance that dogged Karzai's first term.
Afghan politicians with ties to Karzai said they expected him to try to restore credibility abroad by offering cabinet posts to supporters of his chief rival, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah.
Poll officials on Monday cancelled the planned second round of the election vote. The Independent Election Commission announcement came a day after Karzai's only rival, Abdullah Abdullah, withdrew from the race.
Abdullah, a former foreign minister, had demanded the resignation of key poll officials and said he did not believe there would be a fair vote after the first round of voting was overshadowed by mass electoral fraud.
Karzai's relations with western nations have cooled since he was first elected in 2004, amid allegations of widespread corruption in his administration.
Obama is currently considering whether to send up to 40,000 more troops to Afghanistan to combat an increasingly violent Taliban-led insurgency.
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