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Karzai vows to wipe out corruption, forge unity

Taliban ridicules 'puppet'Afghan president

AFP, Kabul
Afghan President Hamid Karzai vowed yesterday that his new government would eradicate corruption and offered an olive branch to Taliban insurgents, launching his programme for another five years in office.
Under pressure from US President Barack Obama to wipe out corruption and world leaders to unify' the war-torn nation, Karzai used his first appearance since electoral authorities declared him president to pledge a cleaner rule.
'Afghanistan's image has been tainted by corruption. Our government’s image has been tainted by corruption," Karzai told a press conference flanked by his controversial vice president Mohammad Qasim Fahim, who is widely accused of rights abuses.
"We will strive, by any means possible, to eradicate this stain."
Karzai was declared president for another five years after the cancellation of a run-off ballot by the country's election commission, which followed the withdrawal at the weekend of his only challenger, Abdullah Abdullah.
The president said it would have been better for Afghanistan, which is rife with ethnic rivalry, to have voted in a second round following a fraud-tainted first election on August 20,
and bemoaned Abdullah'swithdrawal.
Karzai has been urged by a number of world leaders to ensure his next government can command the support of all the Afghan people.
"The future government will be a government that reflects all the people of Afghanistan ... We hope that no-one feels themselves isolated from this future government." he said.
The 51-year-old president, whose warm relations with the West have cooled over corruption and spiralling insecurity, also urged his Taliban "brothers" "to come home and embrace their land".
The Taliban insurgency is now at its deadliest, contributing to record US fatalities eight years since the militia was driven out of Kabul by a US-led invasion, paving the way for Karzai to take power.
•The Islamists ridiculed Karzai as a "puppet" president, however, and said his re-election without a second round showed the West was dictating events.
"What is astonishing is two weeks ago they were arguing that the puppet president Hamid Karzai was involved in electoral fraud... but now he is elected as president based on those same fraudulent votes, Washington and London immediately send their congratulations," saidaTaliban statement.