Afghanistan rejects criticism
2009-11-07 13:24
Kabul - Afghanistan on Saturday rejected criticism of President Hamid Karzai by foreign leaders and the senior UN official in the country, accusing them of disrespecting the country's sovereignty.
Kai Eide, the UN's special representative to Afghanistan, was among those who this week warned Karzai that he could lose international support unless his new government tackled endemic official corruption.
On Saturday the foreign ministry in Kabul issued a statement rejecting such criticism, saying they breached "accepted international norms" and "violated respect for Afghanistan's national sovereignty."
Afghanistan is rated by watchdog Transparency International as the world's fifth-most corrupt country, and Karzai's government is widely seen as riddled with graft that ensures the country remains mired in poverty.
Western support
Leaders of Western nations with over 100 000 troops fighting insurgents in Afghanistan have urged Karzai to ditch the warlords and drug-runners in his government and clean up corruption if he wants their continued support.
After vote organisers this week declared him re-elected, Karzai promised to launch a campaign to eradicate corruption.
Massive fraud uncovered after the August 20 presidential election highlighted the scale of corruption in Afghanistan's government and has led to enormous international pressure on Karzai to clean up graft.
On Friday, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Karzai's government had become a "by-word for corruption."
"Cronies and warlords should have no place in the future of a democratic Afghanistan," Brown said.
Culture of impunity
At a news conference on Thursday Eide called for a "vigorous fight against corruption, efforts to improve the justice system and remove the culture of impunity."
In its statement, the foreign ministry said Eide's remarks "regretfully crossed the accepted international norms and his authority as an impartial international authority".
"Fighting corruption and strengthening a rule of law are preconditions for the creation of a peaceful and stable Afghanistan.
"Over the last few days some political and diplomatic circles and propaganda agencies of certain foreign countries have intervened in Afghanistan's internal affairs by issuing instructions concerning the composition of Afghan government organs and political policy," it said.
"Such instructions have violated respect for Afghanistan's national sovereignty."