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Asia-Pacific

Conference conceives Afghan's future

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-01-29 10:26

Afghanistan 'slowly but surely' moving towards goal of stability

LONDON: Major world powers opened talks yesterday seeking an end to the grinding conflict in Afghanistan, drafting plans to hand over security responsibilities to local forces and quell the insurgency with an offer of jobs and housing to lure Taliban fighters to renounce violence.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai greeted delegates from about 70 nations and institutions in London, seeking to win new international support after more than eight years of combat which is threatening to exhaust public good will in the West.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen also joined talks aimed at setting targets to transfer security control of several Afghan provinces to the local police and military by the end of 2010.

"This is a decisive time for the international cooperation that is helping the Afghan people secure and govern their own country," British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said, opening the one-day talks. "This conference marks the beginning of the transition process."

Brown said the conference would set a target for Afghanistan to increase its military to 171,600 by Oct. 2011, and boost police numbers to 134,00 by the same date. "By the middle of next year we have to turn the tide," he said.

Karzai envisions Afghanistan's government taking control of security in all 34 provinces by 2015, but said he expects foreign troops to stay in his country for up to a decade.

Announcing his plan to lure Taliban soldiers back into mainstream society with offers of jobs and housing, Karzai said Afghanistan was moving "slowly but surely toward the end goals of peace and stability."

Karzai called for support from Afghanistan's neighbors - especially Pakistan and oil-rich, influential Saudi Arabia.

"We hope that his majesty (Saudi) King Adbullah will kindly take a prominent role to guide and assist the peace process," he said. The Afghan leader said he would convene a peace conference to discuss the proposals.

"We must reach out to all our countrymen, especially our disenchanted brothers who are not part of Al-Qaida or other terrorist networks," Karzai told the meeting.

International allies will pledge at least $500 million for Karzai's program, but Western diplomats said the money would not pay for cash inducements. Funding will be used to create jobs in the country's police and army, or in agriculture, and pay for housing, officials said.

AP-Reuters