Afghan President Hamid Karzai, UN chief Ban Ki-moon and major contributors to the coalition fighting in Afghanistan including the United States as well as regional neighbors will be invited to the London conference on January 28.

Brown made it clear the international community expected Karzai, who has been slipping from global favor among widespread allegations of corruption, to step up and assume his responsibilities.

Karzai has to realize "that there will be milestones by which he's going to be judged and he's got to accept that there will be benchmarks which the international community will set," Brown said.

The conference, which has also been backed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, won swift support from Washington which has 68,000 troops in Afghanistan.

"The United States looks forward to contributing to the development of a substantive agenda that will advance our collective efforts in Afghanistan," Mike Hammer, National Security Council spokesman, told AFP.

The London talks will be a chance "for the international community and the Afghan government to discuss security transition, governance and economic development" among other issues including reconciliation, he said.

US President Barack Obama is to unveil a new strategy on Afghanistan on Tuesday. He is expected to commit more than 30,000 fresh US troops to the conflict.

But the president, who has vowed to "finish the job" in Afghanistan, will also lay out an exit strategy to withdraw from a conflict now in its ninth year.

Karzai, re-elected to a second term after fraud-tainted elections, is coming under growing pressure to prove his government is a reliable partner as the conflict bogs down and the death toll among US and NATO forces mounts.

Ban, appearing with Brown, told reporters the foreign-minister level London conference was "a timely initiative to allow for a high-level dialogue in the post-electoral climate in Afghanistan."

Brown stressed Taliban insurgents would not be invited to the talks.

He said he hoped the talks would draw up clear benchmarks for future military and political strategy in Afghanistan for 2010 and beyond.

He plans to build up Afghan forces to 50,000, and committed Britain to training 5,000 in Helmand province alone by the end of 2010.

The British leader also called for 5,000 more troops from other countries outside of Britain and the United States to be deployed with NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

The aim is to gradually hand over responsibility for security to Afghan forces, district by district and province by province, enabling Britain to withdraw its 25,000 troops.

"I want the conference in London to set the conditions needed for district by district handover to Afghan lead responsibility (for security)," Brown said.

He stressed that a timetable for withdrawing British forces from the increasingly unpopular war would only be drafted once the Afghan army and police show they can maintain security.

At least 483 foreign troops, about half of them Americans and some 98 Britons, have been killed in Afghanistan this year, according to the icasualties.org website, making it one of the deadliest years for troops since the US-led invasion in 2001.

The hope is that one or two districts in restive southern Helmand province could be transferred in 2010 to Afghan forces, and up to five Afghan provinces by the end of the year, Brown said.

"Within three months, our benchmark is that the Afghan government should have identified additional troops to send to Helmand province for training," Brown said.

"Within six months, we will want a clear plan for police training that means corruption is being dealt with and we have a police force that works with the local community rather than sometimes against it."

He also called on Karzai to complete the appointments of 400 governors within nine months.

Share This Article With Planet Earth

del.icio.us	Digg	Reddit
YahooMyWeb	Google	Facebook

Related Links
News From Across The Stans

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS Solar Energy Solutions Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ... Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News