Karzai blames foreign money for corruption

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KABUL, Afghanistan, Dec. 22 (UPI) -- President Hamid Karzai called corruption a "bitter reality" in Afghanistan but, in a televised speech Saturday, blamed most of it on foreign organizations.

Karzai suggested standards will rise as foreign troops leave the country during the next two years, Khaama Press reported.

"Corruption in Afghanistan is a reality, a bitter reality," Karzai said. "The part of this corruption that is in our offices is a small part: that is bribes. The other part of corruption, the large part, is hundreds of millions dollars that are not ours. We shouldn't blame ourselves for that. That part is from others and imposed on us."

Transparency International rates Afghanistan as one of the most corrupt countries. Foreign governments and non-governmental organizations that have donated billions of dollars to Afghanistan in the past decade blame Karzai for failing to root out corruption in his government and declining to prosecute political allies.