Clinton says Afghanistan's Karzai "must do better"

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Sunday Afghan President Hamid Karzai "must do better" if he wanted U.S. support and that included creating a major crimes tribunal and anti-corruption commission.

"We're going to be doing what we can to create an atmosphere in which the blood and treasure that the United States has committed to Afghanistan can be justified and can produce the kind of results that we're looking for," Clinton said in an interview with ABC News from Singapore.

"We've delivered that message. Now that the (Afghan) election is finally over, we're looking to see tangible evidence that the government, led by the president but going all the way down to the local level, will be more responsive to the needs of the people," Clinton told ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" show.

President Barack Obama is expected in the coming weeks to announce a new strategy for Afghanistan, including sending in up to 40,000 more troops to fight the eight-year-old war.

A central question as he debates sending in more troops is whether Karzai can be a credible partner in the war and tackle his government's corruption and mismanagement, which is seen as fueling the Taliban.

Karzai, due to be inaugurated this week after August's fraud-plagued election, has come under pressure from the Obama administration to do a better job if he wants to sustain U.S. support in a war that is increasingly unpopular with the American public.

Clinton said she had made it very clear, for example, that the United States would not provide civilian aid to Afghanistan's government unless there was "certification" that it went through ministries that could be held accountable.

Washington also expected there to be a major crimes tribunal and an anti-corruption commission established, Clinton said.

"There does have to be actions by the government of Afghanistan against those who have taken advantage of the money that has poured into Afghanistan in the last eight years so that we can better track it and we can have actions taken that demonstrate there's no impunity for those who are corrupt," she said.

(Reporting by Sue Pleming; editing by Will Dunham)