British Prime Minister Gordon Brown today issued perhaps one of the most stern warnings to the government of Afghanistan, stating that, Mr. Hamid Karzai, the reelected President of Afghanistan needs to curb corruption in the country and bring in reforms that are expected from him or Afghanistan stands to lose support from the United Kingdom, including military support as well. The statement made by Mr. Brown carries the voice of Britain, a country that has been working alongside the United States since the beginning of the war on terror and is now on the edge with massive troop casualties mounting in Afghanistan.

The recent Presidential elections, where Mr. Hamid Karzai was reelected as the President of Afghanistan after the rival candidate Mr. Abdullah Abdullah conceded the elections citing the reasons of corruption among the election officers. The election results have been marred by allegations of fraud and extensive ballot rigging.

In his statement, Prime Ministers Brown said,

“I am not prepared to put the lives of British men and women in harm’s way for a government that does not stand up against corruption.”

He further stated that, if the Afghan government does not correct its ways and bring the required reforms and changes, Britain will be forced to withdraw all support for Afghanistan, including the program that could have allowed for additional British troop deployment to Afghanistan.

However, many experts including the opposition Conservative Party believes that the statement in many ways cannot be taken seriously, because if the presence of British troops in Afghanistan is due to the national security concerns of the United Kingdom, then the Brown government has no other choice but to stay there and fight the Taliban. Accordion to Liam Fox (Conservative Party),

“We must put pressure on the Karzai government to improve governance and tackle corruption, but if our mission in Afghanistan is a national security imperative, it can’t be conditional on the behavior of others.”

Via Associated Press.