Petraeus backs Karzai over corruption

General David Petraeus, the head of US and Nato forces in Afghanistan, defended Hamid Karzai, the country’s president, on Thursday after controversy over Kabul’s stance on corruption.

Speaking to the media at his base in Camp Eggers, near Kabul, Gen Petraeus acknowledged, however, that concerns over sleaze were hindering a counter-insurgency drive in Kandahar and that Nato’s showpiece push in Marjah district faced tough obstacles.

Gen Petraeus described Mr Karzai as “very forthright about corruption” and said the Afghan president’s chief concern was one the US shared: Taliban safe havens in Pakistan.

He was speaking on the day that Robert Gates, US defence secretary, arrived in Kabul for talks with Mr Karzai. The Afghan president had intervened to release Mohammad Zia Salehi, one of his national security advisers, who was arrested in July over claims that he accepted a car in return for favours.

Mr Karzai’s move was widely seen as weakening two US anti-corruption bodies involved in the arrest – the Major Crimes Task Force and the Sensitive Investigative Unit. The Afghan president subsequently ordered a review of their conduct.

Gen Petraeus said: “There clearly was some friction, if you will, over the arrest of the individual who was in the palace. I think frankly those issues, perceptions, have been resolved.”

He had heard Mr Karzai reassure Barack Obama, US president, and John Kerry, chairman of the US Senate foreign relations committee, “that he very much wants to strengthen the organisations involved in that case”.

The general conceded that efforts in Kandahar province – traditional homeland of the Taliban – were affected by a widespread perception that contracts were being awarded on an unclear basis to a limited number of people.

Gen Petraeus added that, having helped produce a counter-insurgency manual, he was now working on “counter-insurgency contracting guidance”. The general offered few specifics about a long-awaited push into Kandahar province, beyond saying it would be a “deliberate campaign”.

US officials had this year emphasised their goal of repelling the Taliban from the areas outside Kandahar city. But they have since tried to play down the prospect of large-scale fighting.

Gen Petraeus said there was “no question that the Taliban is fighting back” in Marjah but questioned the methodology of a June survey that said 99 per cent of respondents in the district saw the military operation as bad for the Afghan people. The small-scale study, by the International Council on Security and Development policy think-tank, has alarmed some US officials.

The general also signalled the prospect of high-level talks with the Taliban. “There have been approaches at very senior level that hold some promise,” he said. Such a process would be led by the Kabul government. Senior US military officials argue that the Taliban is unlikely to come to the table before the tide in the war is turned.