Afghanistan ? Afghanistan’s president pledged Friday to let Western-backed anti-corruption teams pursue investigations free from political interference following two rounds of candid talks with U.S. Sen. John Kerry that the lawmaker said were marked by “sometimes tough” conversation.

Kerry urged President Hamid Karzai to move quickly to combat corruption or risk losing support in the U.S. Congress at a critical phase in the war. U.S. lawmakers have expressed doubt the military effort can succeed without a serious campaign against bribery and graft that have eroded the Afghan people’s trust in the Karzai government.

Kerry, who heads the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, met twice with Karzai on Tuesday and then returned for a second, unscheduled round of talks Friday after traveling to Pakistan to see areas devastated by massive floods.