29 Jan 2010

Afghanistan summit pledges fund to woo Taliban

9:59 am on 29 January 2010

A summit on the future of Afghanistan has announced a fund to encourage Taliban fighters to renounce al-Qaeda.

World leaders at the one-day summit in London pledged $US140 million in backing.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai told the conference that he will use financial and other incentives to help those Taliban fighters who are prepared to renounce violence and sever ties with al-Qaeda.

Mr Karzai's government plans to hold a meeting of elders later this year as part of efforts to end its war with the Taliban.

The Taliban have previously ruled out the idea of peace talks until foreign forces leave Afghanistan.

New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister, Murray McCully, says he has concerns about plans to reintegrate low level Taliban fighters in Afghanistan back into wider society.

Mr McCully, who was at the conference, said the plans need to have carefully thought-through ground rules to avoid a return to religious fundamentalism.

Afghanistan to take back control of security

The summit of 70 nations also pledged that Afghanistan will have control of security in some of its provinces by the end of 2010.

In a statement at the end of the meeting, delegates said the process would be complete within five years.

The communique said the international community would continue to improve the capabilities of the Afghan security forces, boosting the army to 171,600 and the police to 134,000 personnel by October 2011.

Mr Karzai has said his country's security forces will need international financial backing for up to 15 years.