socialmedian: Brown presses Karzai to stand up to Afghan corruption

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Brown presses Karzai to stand up to Afghan corruption

Source: guardian.co.uk Politics

Nov 06, 2009

Summary

Gordon Brown warns Hamid Karzai he will lose international support if he fails to improve government's performance

Gordon Brown today denounced the Afghan government as corrupt and warned the president, Hamid Karzai, that he would lose international support if he failed to improve its performance.

In a speech to the Royal College of Defence Studies, the prime minister said he was "not prepared to put the lives of British men and women in harm's way for a government that does not stand up against corruption".

The remarks drew criticism that Britain's role in Afghanistan was being made hostage to the behaviour of a government that Brown himself described as "a byword for corruption". The shadow defence secretary, Liam Fox, said Britain's commitment to the conflict should not be "confused by mixed messages or empty threats".

Fox said: "We must put pressure on the Karzai government to improve governance and tackle corruption, but if our mission in Afghanistan is a national security imperative, it can't be conditional on the behaviour of others."

Whitehall officials sa

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