The Afghanistan government will be given a timetable for securing British troop withdrawal at a conference in London next year.Gordon Brown today announced an International Conference on Afghanistan, to be held on January 28.The conference will be used to draw up a timetable for Afghan president Hamid Karzai to commit himself to boosting the country’s army and governance.
Speaking at the Commonwealth summit, in Trinidad and Tobago, Brown said this would pave the way for the Nato forces to gradually hand over control to the Afghanistan government and withdraw from the country.Karzai, who was recently re-elected for a second term as president, will be set benchmarks for recruiting 50,000 more troops, improving the capacity of the police and force and reducing regional level corruption.
The prime minster formally announced next year’s conference following discussions today with UN secretary general Ban Ki-Moon.Foreign Secretary David Miliband will chair the talks, which will be attended by Karzai, Ki-Moon and other UN officials, along with representatives from the 43 nations involved in the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.Neighbouring countries, including Pakistan, have been invited, but the prime minister has ruled out any involvement of Taliban or former Taliban members.
Mr Brown said: “The purpose is to move forward our campaign in Afghanistan to match the increase in military forces with an increased political momentum to focus the international community on a clear set of priorities across the 43-nation coalition and marshal the international effort to help the Afghan government.“I believe we will be able to set a clear timetable for 2010 and beyond.“Within three months, our benchmark is that the Afghan government should have identified additional troops to send to Helmand province for training.“This is part of our idea that we will build up the Afghan army by nearly 50,000 over the next year.
“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.“Within nine months, President Karzai should have completed the process of appointing 400 provincial and district governors.”He said that forces will hand back control “district by district” and that by the end of 2010 at least five Afghan provinces will have been transferred.A follow-up conference will be held in Afghan capital Kabul later next year to measure progress on the benchmarks set.The prime minster is also calling for an additional 5,000 Nato troops to be deployed to Afghanistan by the time of the London conference, although he declined to say which countries would supply them.He is currently waiting on a decision from President Obama on whether to commit 40,000 more US troops in a surge against the Taliban.
Santosamaru 