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Just one day before Afghan President Hamid Karzai
is sworn in for his second term, the country's attorney general has
announced that he has prepared indictments against five top politicians
on charges of corruption. It's now up to Karzai to take action. NATO
has also said it is willing to help in the fight against graft.
When Hamid Karzai takes his oath of office in the presidential
office in Kabul at 11 a.m. on Thursday, the amount of attention focused
on him will likely not be to his liking. Every word of his speech will
be analyzed by the international community, led by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who is currently in Afghanistan. Even normally reserved diplomats are doing little to conceal their high
expectations. "If he doesn't say anything concrete, or even names
names, he will feel the wrath," said one European diplomat. "And he
knows that."
The pressure on Karzai is immense. In recent days, a veritable parade
of ambassadors has descended on his office. Diplomats are speaking of a
"shopping list" that they have presented to Karzai, who has found
himself weakened since the manipulated elections that recently returned
him to office. They have made it clear to Karzai that he is expected to
discard some of his aides and take concrete steps against rampant
corruption in his country. Visits from Clinton and other leading
Western politicians are aimed at upping the pressure.
Kabul's justice department appears to have gotten the message. One
day before Karzai is sworn in for his second term in office, Attorney
General Mohammed Ishaq Aloko told Spiegel Online in Kabul that his
office has prepared indictments against five high-ranking politicians.
"We have indictments with sufficient proof against five ministers,"
said Aloko. "Two of them are in the current cabinet and three are
former ministers." The indictments have been submitted to President
Karzai. "The president only has to grant his approval, then the trials
can proceed," said Aloko.
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