President Karzai held meetings to discuss Afghanistan's future by Corina Ciubotaru

Peace in Afghanistan is on its way. President Karzai has had a meeting a couple of days ago with British Defense Secretary Des Browne and they agreed that the country itself will eventually have the biggest role in post-war recovery efforts. The Afghan army should play a bigger part in their country's safety, and local administrations will need to become stronger to encourage respect for the laws as well as economic growth. It also appears the international peace keeping force isn't doing its job very well lately, as they have been unable to prevent the killing of about 600 civilians this year alone. The British have 7,100 troops in Afghanistan and plan to increase that number. Mr. Karzai has also held talks with Pakistani tribal leaders and Prime Minister, to express his country's desire to make peace with its neighbor Pakistan. The officials and tribal leaders came together in a jirga, a tribal council in Kabul and discussed how to put an end to Taliban attacks on both sides of the border. The possibility of uniting the two countries has also been suggested as a way to end hostilities once and for all. Rebel actions have been on the rise since the American-led attack in 2001 and now they started to include kidnappings and torture of civilians. Many Taliban rebels are concentrated in the Helmand region in southern Afghanistan and Waziristan, in the north of Pakistan, and that's also where the highest number of troops, international and local, has been dispatched.

related story: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/afp/20070809/tuk-afghanistan-britain-a7ad41d_2.html

by Corina Ciubotaru for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

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