KABUL, June 30 (Reuters) - The United States sent its most senior law enforcement official to Afghanistan on Wednesday to help rein in graft in one of the world's most corrupt nations and at a sensitive time for Washington's policies in Kabul.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, on a one-day visit to Kabul, met President Hamid Karzai as well as senior Afghan and U.S. officials to discuss tackling corruption and other law enforcement matters.
Afghanistan ranked second from bottom, behind only Somalia, on a 2009 annual index of corruption compiled by Transparency International, a Berlin-based group, which advocates anti-corruption policies across the world.
Although Karzai won international praise when he pledged to crack down on graft and improve rule of law following his re-election in November, many have since complained about delays and the scale of implementation.
Washington openly criticised Karzai earlier this year for tolerating government corruption, causing the Afghan leader to lash back with a series of anti-Western diatribes.
Relations were later smoothed over when Karzai visited Washington in May and while U.S. concerns over corruption have not vanished, the Obama administration is now making a concerted effort to handle such matters in private.
As if to drive that message home, Holder delivered only a short statement to media at the U.S. embassy, in which he praised Karzai and his government but added more needed to be done. He did not take any questions from reporters.
"We have watched with interest from Washington the positive steps President Karzai and his cabinet have taken to improve governance and enforce the rule of law," said Holder.
"We applaud President Karzai for his actions and encourage him to continue his efforts, as much work remains to be done."
TOUGH TIMES
Holder's trip to Kabul, the first by an American attorney general, comes at a tough time for the Obama administration, which has been dealing with the change in command of the U.S.-led forces there fighting the Taliban and other militant groups. Western nations with troops in Afghanistan, and eyeing withdrawals next year, describe corruption as a challenge to stabilising the war-ravaged country -- on a par with the renewed Taliban insurgency and the booming illegal drugs trade.
"Fighting corruption and supporting the rule of law in Afghanistan are top priorities for this administration, and we will continue to assist the Afghan government," Holder said in a written statement released earlier on Wednesday.
Last week, President Barack Obama fired his last military commander, General Stanley McChrystal, after a magazine report revealed disparaging remarks about civilian leaders by him and his team. General David Petraeus is expected to succeed him.
Obama's counter-insurgency strategy introduced by McChrystal aims to take on the Taliban where they are strongest, in their Kandahar spiritual homeland, and boost security simultaneously with a push for improved civilian governance and development.
But on Tuesday, Petraeus said progress had been slower than expected in the southern heartland of the Taliban insurgency and warned of "more intense" fighting over the next few months.
June has been the bloodiest month of the nine-year-old war for foreign forces in Afghanistan. More than 100 have died this month and over 320 have died so far this year, compared to some 520 deaths for all of 2009, according to icasualties.com.
(Additional reporting by Jeremy Pelofsky in WASHINGTON; Editing by Nick Macfie) (For more Reuters coverage of Afghanistan and Pakistan, see: http://www.reuters.com/news/globalcoverage/afghanistanpakistan)
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