Afghanistan's government must show progress on eradicating rampant corruption or risk losing the support of the United States, which helps it stay in power, a senior US politician said on Wednesday.
Senator John Kerry described corruption as "one of the most significant challenges facing Afghanistan and facing the allies who are supporting Afghanistan," as a war against Taliban insurgents drags towards its 10th year.
Afghanistan is rated as the second most corrupt country in the world, better only than lawless Somalia, by watchdog Transparency International, and is led by a President whose re-election in 2009 was tainted by massive fraud.
President Hamid Karzai is under intense pressure from his Western backers to tackle endemic corruption at every level of Afghan life. "I think in the next days the government of Afghanistan's response to anti-corruption efforts are a key test of its ability to regain the confidence of the people and provide the kind of governance that the American people are prepared to support with hard-earned tax dollars and most importantly with the treasure of our country, the lives of young men and women," Kerry said.
"I believe President Karzai wants to do that but my belief that he wants to do it is not going to be enough. It's going to have to be done."
Benchmarks would be set, he said, but declined to go into detail. Kerry, chairman of the US Senate foreign relations committee, said Afghanistan had made some progress in tackling corruption by establishing two bodies: the major crimes task force and the sensitive investigations office.
Both bodies have been operating for 18 months with the help of foreign advisers under the auspices of Afghanistan's intelligence office and interior ministry, and with mostly US funding.