Kabul, Dec 15 (DPA) President Hamid Karzai Tuesday vowed to combat widespread corruption in his government at all levels, calling it a menace that has brought shame to the country.
Since his re-election last month in polls marred by massive fraud, Karzai has been under mounting pressure from his government’s Western allies to crack down on endemic corruption.

“We should remove the corruption whether it is in the size of a dot or in the size of the mountains,” Karzai said at the opening of a three-day national conference on anti-corruption in Kabul.

“Everyday our country’s government, its president, its ministers, its parliament, its senate are accused of corruption. In some cases it is true, but in some cases there are lies,” he told a group of about 200 officials, including cabinet ministers, legislators, provincial officials and foreign diplomats.

“If the Western propaganda is true or not, this is our duty to eliminate the corruption in our government, in our offices, this is our duty,” he said.

The president urged the conference to suggest new standards for government practices to reduce corruption.

Karzai admitted that corrupt officials were trampling the law for personal benefit. “In the past 30 years, we suffered both from fighting and from the misuse of the law,” he said.

In the first major anti-corruption case during Karzai’s reign, an Afghan court sentenced to four years in prison Mir Abdul Ahad Sahebi, Kabul’s mayor, and arrested his deputy on charges of awarding a contract without proper competitive bidding.

Sahebi was arrested and released on bail pending an appeal.

Karzai Tuesday called Sahebi a “clean” person and asked the country’s attorney general and chief justice to review the case.

“I know the mayor of Kabul, he is a clean person,” the president said.