1 second ago 2009-12-10T05:51:44-08:00
PARIS (AFP) – The United States' senior envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan is due in France on Friday, the French foreign ministry said, as Paris seeks to build an anti-corruption strategy for Kabul.
Richard Holbrooke will meet Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner for their first direct talks since the fraud-hit re-election of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, whom the French minister has branded "corrupt".
Kouchner told French radio this week that he is working with US officials to draw up a blueprint for reforms they would like to see Karzai implement in order to rebuild his credibility as a national leader.
"Karzai's corrupt, OK, but he's our guy. We have to legitimise him," Kouchner told foreign reporters last week, according to the New York Times.
Holbrooke is US President Barack Obama's point man on the conflict in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where Islamist insurgents are battling and gaining ground on government security forces and NATO troops.
Kouchner has said he will join other senior international officials in Kabul on November 19 to celebrate Karzai's inauguration, following an election in which the first round was marred by fraud and the second round abandoned.
