The president opened a three-day anti-corruption conference, which had been billed by diplomats as a sign that Karzai took the West’s concern over the issue seriously. Fighting graft is seen as key to winning popular support against a resurgent Taliban.Shortly before he spoke, a suicide bomber blew himself up in the capital’s Wazir Akbar Khan diplomatic residential district, killing seven people and wounding 44.
The blast, underscoring the growing reach of militants, took place outside the home of a former vice president, who was unhurt.
Kabul mayor Abdul Ahad Sayebi, a Karzai appointee, was sentenced to four years prison last week for corruption in the first case of its kind against a senior official in years. He is free on bail pending an appeal, and was seated toward the front at the conference, where Karzai pointed him out.
“One very serious caution I want to say. The mayor of Kabul has been sentenced to four years jail. I know the mayor. He is a clean person. I know him,” Karzai said.
He said Sayebi had been targeted by enemies for refusing to grant them government land, and gestured to his chief justice and attorney general demanding they look into the case, although he also said Sayebi should still go to jail if guilty.
