Karzai appeals for continued global aid
05 July, 2012
KABUL: The international community should cooperate with Afghanistan in realizing the priorities the Afghans have identified, President Hamid Karzai said during talks with a British minister. At a meeting with UK's Secretary of State for International Development Andrew Mitchell at the Presidential Palace in Kabul, Karzai thanked the international community for its continued assistance to Afghanistan in various sectors over the past decade. Aid would remain crucial to his country's stability and development over the next decade, he said, reaffirming his commitment to good governance, improved security and ensuring a fair presidential election in 2014. Karzai also extended his condolences to the people and government of the UK over the death of three British soldiers in southern Helmand province. A statement from the president's office quoted Mitchell as expressing his concern over the deaths. But he hoped such incidents would not affect the UK's commitment toward Afghanistan. A gunman wearing an Afghan police uniform shot dead three British soldiers at a checkpoint in Helmand, the British Ministry of Defense confirmed on Monday. Two soldiers serving with the 1st Battalion of Welsh Guards and one with the Royal Corps of Signals were killed. "I have been assigned the task to represent the UK at next month's Tokyo conference, which is considered a very important gathering after the Chicago summit on Afghanistan," the minister of state said. Mitchell added the meeting in Japan would provide another opportunity for Afghanistan and the world to sit together and define Afghanistan's priorities for the next decade The two sides will have a chance to renew their pledges of cooperation in this regard. He promised that Britain would continue its assistance under the strategic cooperation accord with Afghanistan and would never abandon the war-hit country. End.
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