UK's Brown warns Karzai he could lose backing
* British PM Brown demands Karzai combats corruption
* Brown defends Britain's strategy in Afghanistan
(Updates opinion poll, adds comments from NATO chief, Norway)
By Adrian Croft
LONDON, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai, winner of a fraud-tainted election, risks losing British and international support unless he acts decisively to fight corruption, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Friday. Brown, seeking to bolster dwindling public backing at home for keeping British troops in Afghanistan, said Karzai must pass five key tests.
He listed them as fighting corruption, building up Afghan security forces, promoting reconciliation, encouraging economic development and fostering closer cooperation with Pakistan.
"If the government fails to meet these five tests, it will have not only failed its own people, it will have forfeited its right to international support," Brown said in a speech at the Royal College of Defence Studies in London.
NATO's Afghan mission involves 65,000 U.S. troops and 39,000 from allied nations, including 9,000 from Britain.
Karzai's controversial re-election and rising losses among its force in Afghanistan have led many in Britain to ask why the British troops are there.
A new YouGov poll for Channel 4 news found that 57 percent of people thought it was impossible for British troops to win the war against Taliban insurgents and 73 percent wanted British troops home within a year -- up sharply from last month.
"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," Brown said in his toughest public message to Karzai.
Seven British soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan in the last week -- including five shot dead by an Afghan policeman -- bringing total British deaths there to 230 since 2001.
U.S. President Barack Obama is still considering a call from the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, for tens of thousands more soldiers and NATO has asked other countries to increase their contributions.
Norway said on Friday it would maintain its current support for the Afghan mission, implying it had declined a request from NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen for more troops.
Brown's spokesman said Britain had discussed the five tests for Karzai with its allies.
ELECTION ISSUE
Continuing loss of British lives in Afghanistan could damage Brown's Labour Party in an election he must call by next June and which the opposition Conservatives are favourites to win.
Speaking on GMTV, Brown said Karzai had agreed with him in a telephone conversation on Thursday that his government's priority would be to take "decisive action" against corruption.
Brown avoided the question however when asked repeatedly what sanction Britain might take against Karzai if he did not carry out Brown's demands.
Government sources say it is unlikely Britain would cut off development aid to Afghanistan if Karzai did not implement reforms, but they suggest Britain could stop giving financial aid to a ministry that was ineptly run.
Brown defended his strategy in Afghanistan, insisting British troops were there to protect Britain from terrorism.
"We have got to be there to make sure that we can prevent al Qaeda gaining power in Pakistan and Afghanistan," he told GMTV.
"We cannot, must not and will not walk away," said Brown, who argues that Britain and other allies must expand training of Afghan security forces so they can eventually take over responsibilities from foreign forces.
The NATO chief also urged member states to step up efforts to train and equip Afghan forces, and added there were other ways to support the mission besides sending more troops.
"Countries that have put limitations on the use of their troops can allow for more flexibility. There's also a big need for more civilians to assist the Afghan development," the former Danish prime minister said in Oslo. (Additional reporting by Richard Solem in Oslo; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
