Afghan security control 'by 2014'

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Afghanistan is "determined" to be responsible for its own security operations by 2014, President Hamid Karzai said at Kabul's one-day international conference on Afghanistan.

In a resolution issued at the end of the conference everybody involved agreed to back the Afghan government's programme for peace and reconciliation with the Taliban. The resolution also confirmed backing for 50 per cent of funds provided by the international community to go into Afghanistan. And it said the emphasis would still be on good governance, economic development and greater regional cooperation.

Karzai told delegates from more than 70 international organisations and countries: "I remain determined that our Afghan National Security Forces will be responsible for all military and law enforcement operations throughout our country by 2014."

Also speaking at the conference was US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who warned against women's rights being compromised if there is dialogue with the Taliban but the Afghan lawmaker Fawzia Koofi said: "Bringing the Taliban on board and [compromising] women's rights would take this country back hundreds of years."

Clinton said: "I speak from experience when I say that the work of Afghan women and civil society groups will be essential to this country's success. If these groups are fully empowered to help build a just and lasting peace, they will help do so. If they are silenced and pushed to the margins of Afghan society, the prospects for peace and justice will be subverted."

She added: "An Afghanistan that is stable, peaceful and secure is in everyone's interest, particularly women and children. But it cannot come at the cost of women."