More than two years after the Taliban was ousted from power, the international community regrouped yesterday in Berlin to shore up Afghanistan's fragile reconstruction process and assess its needs for the future.
Officials from participating countries and organizations talk hopefully of US$4 billion being pledged; of peacekeepers deploying in the lawless provinces; of a new commitment to tackle rampant narcotics production; and of financial aid for forthcoming elections.
Aware of the international support for his administration, Afghan President Hamid Karzai spoke here on Tuesday of a vision that within a decade, Afghanistan "will no longer be a burden on the shoulders of the world."
He warned, however, that there was virtually no prospect of his building a "safer and better" country unless the international community found US$27 billion for its reconstruction.
"We have a plan for Afghanistan to take our country by the year 2014 to a higher income per capita, a higher state of legitimacy, a direct democracy for our people and more stability and peace," he said.
Karzai arrived in the German capital after declaring that presidential and parliamentary elections are to be held in September, three months later than originally planned but still a sign of progress.
Yet the country's record is blighted by violence, notably from remnants of the ousted Taliban, a thriving narcotics industry and a lingering problem of warlords ruling the roost in outlying provinces.
The two-day talks are being co-chaired by the UN, Afghanistan, Germany and Japan and drawing hundreds of ministers and officials from some 60 countries and organizations, including 20 foreign ministers.
They will focus on stabilizing Karzai's government, boosting its authority in the restive regions, stepping up security, tackling drugs and intensifying humanitarian and financial aid.
German Overseas Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul said Kabul could receive pledges of a total of around US$9 billion spread over three years.
Other officials say it would be a success if four billion in short-term aid could be pledged.
Afghan Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani, who is also in Berlin, has said that US$27.5 billion would be needed in the next seven years and that previous pledges "vastly underestimated" Afghanistan's needs.
NATO has indicated it is willing in principle to roll out its forces beyond the Kabul region, and the alliance's secretary-general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, another participant here, may make an announcement to that end.
Mark Malloch Brown, administrator of the UN Development Program, said it was essential for troops to spread out in order to ensure fair elections.
"If you're looking for two criteria of success for this meeting," he said, "one is obviously what is said on the reconstruction and international financial support, but the second is do we move forward on this NATO commitment?
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