New Afghan leaders outline reforms at London talks

Afghanistan's new leaders were hoping to build bridges with the West at a conference in London on Thursday as they struggle to bring peace amid the withdrawal of foreign combat forces after 13 years.

The conference was not expected to deliver new cash pledges, but provided President Ashraf Ghani and CEO Abdullah Abdullah with a platform to outline their reform plans.

It comes after the two formed a national unity government in September and as the US-led NATO force ends its combat mission amid a spike in Taliban attacks against international targets in Kabul.

Ghani and Abdullah will be joined by prominent figures including US Secretary of State John Kerry, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and British Prime Minister David Cameron.

The one-day event "gives an opportunity for the US and other international partners to reinforce that we remain committed partners to Afghanistan," Daniel Feldman, the US special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, told reporters this week.

"But probably most importantly, it's an opportunity for President Ghani and Dr Abdullah to outline their vision for Afghanistan's economic, social and political future."

Despite pouring billions of dollars into supporting Afghanistan after the Taliban government was toppled in 2001, the international community had a fraught relationship with Ghani's predecessor, Hamid Karzai.

Many diplomats are now hoping to reset relations under the former World Bank economist.

Western frustration

The international combat mission, which peaked at 130,000 troops in 2010, will wind down at the end of this year, but some 12,500 NATO troops, mainly from the US, will stay on for several years to train and advise Afghan forces.

US President Barack Obama had pledged that his country's combat mission in Afghanistan would end this year, but officials said last month that US forces would still be able to help Afghan troops and police fight the Taliban in certain circumstances.

The US has also been filling in temporarily for a shortage of roughly 400 to 700 NATO troops through the winter months, officials said.

Aid levels to Afghanistan fell in recent years as Western frustration with Karzai mounted. Another aim of the conference is therefore to ensure that donor countries honor pledges made at a previous conference in Tokyo in 2012.

Christine Roehrs of the Kabul-based Afghanistan Analysts Network said, "It feels as if some of the sympathy that was lost over the past years may be creeping back into the world's hearts."

(China Daily 12/05/2014 page11)