Senior officials of 24 nations assured Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Wednesday of their continued support for rebuilding Afghanistan and ensuring stability and security across the country, diplomats said.
But a group statement, issued after a two-hour closed-door meeting, gave no response to Karzai's renewed demands that the reach of the multinational peacekeeping force now confined to Kabul, the capital, be expanded across the country.
The force, known as the International Security Assistance Force or ISAF, now provides security only in Kabul.
While a US force of some 12,500 soldiers is trying to track down al-Qaeda and Taliban militants in the south, that leaves security needs in the rest of a country made up of a patchwork of rival warlords to a fledgling Afghan army and small teams of foreign reconstruction workers.
Karzai was chosen as Afghanistan's interim president after a US-led invasion toppled its Taliban rulers following the Sept. 11, 2001, triple hijack attacks. Washington blamed Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda network for the attacks and accused the Taliban of providing them with a safe haven.
But the Taliban has stepped up its activity in recent months, and Afghan officials blame its resurgence on support from neighboring Pakistan, although Pakistan denies this.
Since early last month, more than 280 people have been killed across Afghanistan, among them civilians, aid workers, police and militiamen, three US soldiers and numerous guerrillas.
Despite the lack of a commitment on expanding ISAF, Karzai told reporters it had been "a wonderful meeting -- in terms of the support for the expansion of ISAF and in terms of other countries pledging more financial support."
Diplomats said Germany has been circulating a draft Security Council resolution that would expand the ISAF mandate beyond Kabul and planned to seek its adoption in December, when the force's current council mandate expires.
"There must be sustained international commitment to the task of building security," German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder told the 191-nation UN General Assembly.
Wednesday's meeting included foreign ministers from Afghanistan's six neighbors -- China, Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan -- and 18 key backers including the US, Britain, France, Germany, Russia, Japan, India, Turkey and Saudi Arabia.
Among those attending was US Secretary of State Colin Powell, who assured the meeting of Washington's long-term commitment to Afghan security and reconstruction, envoys said.
"Failure is not an option," Powell told the group.
US President George W. Bush this month asked Congress for an additional US$1.2 billion for Afghanistan's reconstruction.
"The general tone in the room was that a lot has been accomplished but there is a lot more to be done," said one diplomat. Participants stressed that Afghanistan's neighbors must keep out of its internal affairs and strongly backed an expansion of ISAF, although without specifics, the envoy said.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned the group that insecurity "hampers reconstruction activities and severely threatens political participation across a wide region of the country," according to a text of his remarks.
"It also diminishes the tangible benefits of the peace process and risks increasing public disenchantment and frustration," he said.
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