U.S. urges Karzai to make corruption arrests

By Adam Entous

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States wants Afghan President Hamid Karzai to arrest and prosecute corrupt government officials and take other concrete measures to shore up his legitimacy, the top U.S. military officer said on Wednesday, suggesting such steps were key to a troop increase.

Washington believes a successful counterinsurgency strategy hinges on winning Afghan public support for the government in Kabul and sidelining the Taliban.

But Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the re-elected president's legitimacy among his people was "at best, in question right now and, at worst, doesn't exist."

Describing Washington as "extremely concerned" by rampant corruption in Afghanistan and Karzai's standing in his country, Mullen said a housecleaning was needed at all levels of government and should be spearheaded by the Afghan president.

Karzai emerged this week as the victor more than two months after a fraud-marred presidential election and a resurgent Taliban prompted a White House war strategy review.

"He's got to take concrete steps to eliminate corruption," Mullen said of Karzai. "That means that you have to rid yourself of those who are corrupt, you have to actually arrest and prosecute them. You have to show those visible signs."

"If we don't get a level of legitimacy and governance, then all the troops in the world aren't going to make any difference," Mullen told a conference in Washington.

After weeks of internal deliberations, President Barack Obama's advisers appear to be moving toward a hybrid war strategy combining counterinsurgency with counterterrorism in Afghanistan that would entail a troop increase next year.