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?
LANDMARK CASE: ‘Every night we were dragged to US soldiers and sexually abused. Every week we were forced to undergo venereal disease tests,’ a victim said More than 100 South Korean women who were forced to work as prostitutes for US soldiers stationed in the country have filed a landmark lawsuit accusing Washington of abuse, their lawyers said yesterday. Historians and activists say tens of thousands of South Korean women worked for state-sanctioned brothels from the 1950s to 1980s, serving US troops stationed in country to protect the South from North Korea. In 2022, South Korea’s top court ruled that the government had illegally “established, managed and operated” such brothels for the US military, ordering it to pay about 120 plaintiffs compensation. Last week, 117 victims
China on Monday announced its first ever sanctions against an individual Japanese lawmaker, targeting China-born Hei Seki for “spreading fallacies” on issues such as Taiwan, Hong Kong and disputed islands, prompting a protest from Tokyo. Beijing has an ongoing spat with Tokyo over islands in the East China Sea claimed by both countries, and considers foreign criticism on sensitive political topics to be acts of interference. Seki, a naturalised Japanese citizen, “spread false information, colluded with Japanese anti-China forces, and wantonly attacked and smeared China”, foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters on Monday. “For his own selfish interests, (Seki)
Argentine President Javier Milei on Sunday vowed to “accelerate” his libertarian reforms after a crushing defeat in Buenos Aires provincial elections. The 54-year-old economist has slashed public spending, dismissed tens of thousands of public employees and led a major deregulation drive since taking office in December 2023. He acknowledged his party’s “clear defeat” by the center-left Peronist movement in the elections to the legislature of Buenos Aires province, the country’s economic powerhouse. A deflated-sounding Milei admitted to unspecified “mistakes” which he vowed to “correct,” but said he would not be swayed “one millimeter” from his reform agenda. “We will deepen and accelerate it,” he
Japan yesterday heralded the coming-of-age of Japanese Prince Hisahito with an elaborate ceremony at the Imperial Palace, where a succession crisis is brewing. The nephew of Japanese Emperor Naruhito, Hisahito received a black silk-and-lacquer crown at the ceremony, which marks the beginning of his royal adult life. “Thank you very much for bestowing the crown today at the coming-of-age ceremony,” Hisahito said. “I will fulfill my duties, being aware of my responsibilities as an adult member of the imperial family.” Although the emperor has a daughter — Princess Aiko — the 23-year-old has been sidelined by the royal family’s male-only
RSS