Brown Presses Karzai to Tackle Afghanistan Corruption

Aug. 21 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown flew to Afghanistan for talks with President Hamid Karzai today, calling on the government in Kabul to crack down on corruption and the opium trade that is funding the Taliban insurgency.

Karzai faces criticism from the United Nations for failing to address corruption in his administration and tackle the opium trade that is helping finance the Taliban insurgency. Berlin- based Transparency International, an anti-graft group, said Afghanistan is perceived as one of the 10 most corrupt countries of 180 nations it studied last year.

The Afghan population is becoming increasingly frustrated with the government's failure to tackle corruption and Karzai risks more people backing the insurgency, Seth Jones, an analyst at the Washington-based policy research group Rand Corp. said by telephone today. ``The population is quickly becoming alienated,'' he said. ``It is a fundamental challenge.''
Bloomberg.com: U.K. & Ireland
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