KABUL — U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday that while the fight against corruption must be led by Afghans, the U.S. is working on new ways to prevent millions of American dollars flowing into the nation from underwriting bribery and graft.
Gates spoke to reporters in the Afghan capital with President Hamid Karzai, who complained about two Western- backed anti-corruption units that recently arrested one of his top aides on suspicion of bribery. Karzai likened the units’ tactics to heavy-handed Soviet methods.
The U.S. views the arrest of Mohammed Zia Salehi as a test of Karzai’s willingness to take on graft in his government.
Gates said U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry and Gen. David Petraeus, the top commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, were developing new guidelines for how U.S. funds are handed out for development and other projects.
The Associated Press
