Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Conference seeks cash and progress for Afghanistan
Donor states, military powers and regional players will be seeking a more effective strategy for Afghanistan's development and security as well as pledging funds at a conference in Paris on Thursday.
Afghanistan will ask the ministers and other delegates from around 65 countries to fund a $50 billion five-year development plan, for which donors will demand that Kabul do more to fight corruption in what is one of the world's poorest states.
Two years after a similar meeting in London outlined an international effort to promote security, good governance and development, envoys will assess "remaining challenges" in Afghanistan, which still suffers daily violence more than six years after U.S.-led forces overthrew the Taliban government.
Last year alone, an insurgency by a rejuvenated Taliban accounted for some 6,000 deaths.
"No one anticipated the levels of violence that we see today. That's probably one of the best reasons for reviewing the London compact -- the basic assumptions in the compact did not hold true when they were written," said one official who briefed reporters. (Reuters)
Labels: Afghanistan, Taliban
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