Afghans seek help on corruption

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A senior Afghan figure says he wants help from the Nato-led military force Isaf to tackle officials engaged in corruption or the drugs trade.

Attorney General Abdul Jabbar Sabet says there are men in government positions whose private militias give them immunity.

The international force Isaf says such support would be outside its mission.

Analysts say corruption is a serious problem in Afghanistan, permeating all sections of the ruling class.

It has made inroads into the police force, the judiciary and, according to the World Bank, the upper reaches of the state.

A World Bank official told the BBC that the country's drug trade has now taken over parts of the Afghan administration.

Request rejected

Mr Sabet said Isaf had rejected his request, saying it was an internal Afghan affair.

But the new British ambassador has said he would like to see the issue reconsidered by Nato nations. And the European Union ambassador has said that without international military involvement, illegal militias would not be disarmed.

Their continuing existence, he said, fed into corruption, bad governance and, in the south, led some people to support the insurgency in places where there was little to choose between the local commander and the Taleban.

Afghanistan accounts for about 90% of the world's production of opium poppies, from which the drug heroin is derived.