Afghanistan asks ex-presidential contender to tackle corruption
By APWednesday, January 20, 2010
Afghanistan seeks new ideas against corruption
KABUL — The Afghan government has chosen a former World Bank executive and ex-presidential contender to develop new ideas to battle corruption.
The choice of Ashraf Ghani was announced Wednesday as senior Afghan, U.N. and other international officials met to put the final touches on a draft action plan for President Hamid Karzai’s government. The plan is to be presented at a Jan. 28 international conference on Afghanistan to be held in London.
Corruption allegations have emerged as a key problem as Karzai seeks to restore public trust and turn back a resurgent Taliban.
A U.N. report released Tuesday said half of all Afghan adults paid at least one bribe to a public official over the course of a year to cut through red tape or get help with poor service.
