President Hamid Karzai

The Afghan government said Monday it had formed a major crime unit to tackle corruption, following escalating Western pressure on President Hamid Karzai to fight graft. "A giant step is being taken today in announcing the opening of the major crime task force," Interior Minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar told a news conference with the British and US ambassadors. The government denied that the creation of the new entity was in response to huge Western pressure for concrete action to wipe out corruption. The unit will work with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Britain's Scotland Yard and EUPOL, the European Union's police training ... Read Full Story

President Barack Obama's drawn-out decision-making on Afghanistan is sending messages. To the Afghan government: Clean up your act. To the Pentagon: I'm no rubber stamp. To the American public: More troops can't be the sole answer. Obama has been accused by some Republicans of "dithering" about whether to send more troops and deepen U.S. involvement in an increasingly unpopular war. The slow process also has left him open to critics who recall his pronouncement in March, after developing what he called a "stronger, smarter and comprehensive" Afghan war strategy, that the situation there was "increasingly perilous." He ordered more troops to battle then, with ... Read Full Story

The Afghan government said on Monday it had formed a major crime unit to tackle corruption, following escalating Western pressure on President Hamid Karzai to fight graft. "A giant step is being taken today in announcing the opening of the major crime task force," Interior Minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar told a news conference with the British and US ambassadors. The government denied that the creation of the new entity was in response to huge Western pressure for concrete action to wipe out corruption. The unit will work with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Britain's Scotland Yard and EUPOL, the European Union's police ... Read Full Story

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan will form a new anti-corruption unit to investigate high-level graft after widespread criticism and demands from Washington for it to do more amid a wider regional strategy review. The announcement comes a day after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton bluntly warned that President Hamid Karzai and his government must do better, saying Washington wanted to see tangible evidence of Kabul's fight against rampant corruption. On Monday, three days before Karzai was due to be sworn in for another five-year term, the government said it would set up a new body to tackle corruption and other crime. Afghanistan has made ... Read Full Story

Afghan officials launched a new anti-corruption unit and major crime fighting force Monday amid stiff international pressure to clean up the government following a fraud-tainted presidential election. The Afghan government has been dogged by corruption for years and this is the third formal launch of a unit promising to rein in rampant graft and bribery. But Afghan government officials told reporters this attempt has a better chance because of its international backing and a real desire to succeed. Law enforcement agencies from Britain and the United States, along with Interpol, helped set up the unit, Interior Minister Hanif Atmar said. The British and U.S. ... Read Full Story