02 November 2009 - 13H09
Obama urges Karzai to tackle corruption
In a congratulatory call to Hamid Karzai, who retains leadership of Afghanistan after a presidential run-off vote was scrapped on Monday, US President Barack Obama urged the Afghan leader to step up efforts to fight corruption in the war-torn nation.
US President Barack Obama congratulated Afghan leader Hamid Karzai on his re-election on Monday - but warned him to step up efforts to fight corruption.
The administration earlier said it recognised Hamid Karzai as the legitimate president of Afghanistan, despite a fraud-riddled election that saw millions of ballots favouring Karzai to be thrown out.
Speaking from the Oval Office, Obama told Karzai it was time to “write a new chapter based on improved governance” and to make “a much more serious effort to eradicate corruption.”
"He assured me that he understood the importance of this moment. But as I indicated to him, the proof is not going to be in words. It's going to be in deeds," Obama warned.
"Although the process was messy, I'm pleased to say that the final outcome was determined in accordance with Afghan law, which I think is very important not only for the international community that has so much invested in Afghan success, but most importantly is important for the Afghan people," Obama said.
Legitimacy questioned
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs faced repeated questions at a briefing on how Washington could work with Karzai when his legitimacy had been so widely questioned after the tainted August vote.
"President Karzai has been declared the winner,” Gibbs told reporters. “So obviously he is the legitimate leader of the country.”
Gibbs tried to put the best face on a situation that presents a potential headache for the Obama administration..
Afghan election officials on Monday scrapped a Nov. 7 run-off vote and declared Karzai president after the only other candidate, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, withdrew, citing doubts about the fairness of the process.
US officials had said previously they needed a credible partner in Afghanistan as Obama considers a request for up to 40,000 extra troops to halt a deteriorating security situation.
Gibbs said Obama would announce his new strategy "in the next few weeks."
The timing had never been dependent on the outcome of the election, he said, although administration officials had previously suggested it was a factor.
A senior administration official told Reuters that Obama was not likely to announce his new strategy before he embarks on a 10-day trip to Asia on Nov. 11.
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Comments (1)
corruption
There is a good deal of corruption in the USA.The majority of the USA senators and congressmen are very corrupt.These crooks
will take bribes from anybody.They are whores for the big corporations.
Barack Obama does not need to tell other countries
to fight corruption.He needs to beging fighting corruption at home.Campaign contributions = bribes = corruption.
www.france24.com please make sure Barack Obama reads this
comment in this Karzai carticle.
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