Obama presses Karzai to fight Afghan corruption

US President Barack Obama today told Afghan leaders to do more to rein in rampant corruption and improve their government as he made an unannounced visit to the capital for a firsthand look at the eight-year-old war he inherited and dramatically escalated.

After a brief meeting with President Hamid Karzai at the presidential palace in Kabul, Mr Obama praised recent steps in the military campaign against insurgents but said Afghans needed to see conditions on the ground get better.