UN Security Council hails International Conference on Afghanistan
UNITED NATIONS, July 23 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council on Friday extended a welcome to a major international conference on Afghanistan, which just concluded in the Afghan capital of Kabul, and voiced its willingness to joint the world efforts to build a peaceful Afghanistan.
The statement came as Nigerian UN Ambassador Uche Joy Ogwu, who holds the rotating Council presidency for July, was reading a statement to the press here after the 15-nation body heard a briefing by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who co-chaired the International Conference on Afghanistan with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, on the international gathering.
The Kabul conference was the first international meeting on Afghanistan to be held in the country.
The Security Council welcomed the Kabul conference and " congratulated the government of Afghanistan on the organization of the conference, which brought together representatives of more than 60 countries, international and regional organizations and financial institutions to discuss Afghanistan's development, governance and stability," the statement said.
"The members of the Council supported this Afghan-led process, which
aims to accelerate Afghan leadership and ownership, strengthen international partnership and regional cooperation, improve Afghanistan's governance, enhance the capabilities of the security forces, deliver economic growth, and provide better protection for the rights of all its citizens," the statement said.
"The members of the Security Council welcomed the Kabul conference communique, which recognized the conference as an important milestone in the 'Kabul Process'," said the statement.
The conference builds on previous international meetings between Afghanistan and its international partners, most recently the London Conference held in January.
"The members of the Council welcome the commitments made by the Afghan government, including the development framework, timelines and benchmarks for the new national priority programs, progress towards a transition to an Afghan security lead, improving of governance and tackling of corruption," the statement said.
"The members of the Council looked forward to the timely implementation of this commitments and called upon the international community to provide assistance to support the Kabul process in greater alignment with Afghan priorities," the statement said.
The final communique from the Kabul conference said, "The international community expressed its support for the president of Afghanistan's objective that the Afghan national security forces should lead and conduct military operations in all provinces by the end of 2014."
To allow the withdrawal of some of the 150,000 NATO-led troops from Afghanistan, President Karzai proposed boosting the national army to 170,000 soldiers, and the police by 134,000 officers by October 2011. Up to 36,000 former militants would be reintegrated into society.
"The members of the Council reiterated their condemnation of violent and terrorist activities by the Taliban, al-Qaeda and other extremist groups, aimed at destabilizing the situation in the country, and reasserted that no terrorist act can reverse the path towards peace, democracy, and reconstruction in Afghanistan," the statement said.
The Security Council took note of Afghanistan's government peace and reconciliation program, and emphasized that this program is open to those of the armed opposition who renounce violence, have no links with international terrorist organizations, respect the constitution, and are willing to join in building a peaceful Afghanistan, the statement said.
"The members of the Security Council acknowledging that narcotics are a global challenge, welcomed the intention stated by the conference participants to strengthen international and regional cooperation to counter illegal production, trafficking, and production of drugs from Afghanistan and to fight the illicit drugs trade by supporting the Afghan government's initiatives and policies in this regard, including an increase in the number of poppy-free provinces," the statement added.
Meanwhile, the Security Council also underlined "the leading role" of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan in the co-ordination of the international civilian efforts in Afghanistan and supported the leadership of the UN secretary- general's special representative, Staffan de Mistura, and the work of the UN mission, the statement said.
"The member of the Council looked forward to free, fair, transparent and open legislative election in September 2010," the statement added.
UN Security Council hails International Conference on Afghanistan
