Brown urges Karzai to unify Afghanistan, tackle corruption

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told lawmakers he spoke to Afghan President Hamid Karzai over the phone and discussed "the importance of moving quickly to set out a unity programme for the future governance of Afghanistan."

Brown said, "Afghanistan now needs new and urgent measures for tackling corruption, for strengthening local government, for reaching out to all parts of Afghan society and for giving the Afghan people a real stake in their future, and President Karzai agreed with me that Afghanistan now also needs to strengthen its army and police numbers so that over time we can reduce the numbers of British troops."