The Afghan government announced Monday that it has formed a major crime unit to tackle corruption, in a move seen as bowing to international pressure to fight endemic graft. The unit will work with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Britain's Scotland Yard and EUPOL, the European Union's police training mission to Afghanistan, Interior Minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar said.
"A giant step is being taken today in announcing of the opening of the major crime task force," Atmar told reporters. The announcement follows intense international pressure on President Hamid Karzai to tackle corruption as a condition for continued support as he moves into a second five-year term in office. Adding weight to calls in recent weeks for immediate action on graft, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sent a warning to Karzai on Sunday that future financial support would be linked to anti-graft action.
"There does have to be actions by the government of Afghanistan against those who have taken advantage of the money that has poured into Afghanistan in the last eight years so that we can better track it and we can have actions taken that demonstrate there's no impunity for those who are corrupt," she said.
She also told ABC news that Washington expected Karzai to set up a major crimes tribunal and an anti-corruption commission, and warned that millions of dollars of US civilian aid was contingent on seeing progress on graft. Karzai is due to be inaugurated on Thursday for another five years, after being anointed president following a fraud-tainted election on August 20 and a cancelled run-off against his main challenger.
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