$140 Million to Be Allocated for the Integration of the Taliban into the Afghan Society

29.01.2010 11:25

An International Conference on Afghanistan co-chaired by Afghanistan, the UK and the UN took place in London. The forum was attended by delegations from over 60 states and 10 international organizations.

The issues concerning assistance to Afghanistan in the struggle against terrorism, the improvement of public administration, socio-economic recovery, the development of regional cooperation were discussed at the conference.

Delegates welcomed the aspiration of the Afghani government to receive greater independence in governing the country after the transfer of responsibility to it for ensuring the order and stability from the International Security Assistance Force.

The course of Kabul toward the termination of the bloodshed in Afghanistan through reintegration of Taliban and other antigovernment fighters into a peaceful life has been supported upon condition of recognition by them of the IRA’s constitution, abandonment of the armed struggle and breaking the links with al-Qaeda.

The program of the Talibs reintegration was announced by the Afghan President Hamid Karzai. For this purpose he suggested creating a “National Council for the Reconciliation and Integration”, which should include all the parties which have abandoned violence. The Afghani leader invited King of Saudi Arabia to take part in the creation of a similar body, and also asked the neighboring countries including Pakistan to join the process.

The delegates decided to invest more than $140 million in a new trust fund intended for the reintegration of Taliban fighters into the Afghani society

Issues of the development of regional cooperation with Afghanistan in various fields, including that within the framework of the SCO, enhancing the role of states in the region in Afghan settlement occupied an important place in discussions.

Considerable attention was paid to developing measures for the destruction of the regional drug industry, undermining the security of states and being a source of the financing of terrorist activity.

The London Conference noted the progress of the Afghan leadership in the fight against drug production in the country, particularly in the preceding year the Afghan authorities managed to achieve reductions in opium poppy cultivation by 22 percent.

In addition, the plan of the Afghan President Hamid Karzai to fight corruption was supported, having coordinated its performance with further rendering assistance to Afghanistan.

Addressing the conference, Hamid Karzai urged the Western nations to reduce the number of air operations to a minimum. This may, according to the Afghan leader, sharply reduce the number of civilian casualties. The President of Afghanistan also pointed to the inadmissibility of "unauthorized searches" of houses in population places.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia noted that “the conference became a notable milestone in the international efforts to help Afghanistan in the interests of early formation of a peaceful, independent and economically sustainable state, free from terrorism and narcotics.”