Afghanistan conference - report

Clinton aims to win over Taliban defectors

by Tony Cross

Article published on the 2009-03-31 Latest update 2009-04-01 09:46 TU

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaking at the conference on Afghanistan in the Hague on 31 March 2009.
(Photo: Reuters)

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for efforts to win over defectors from the Taliban at an international conference on Afghanistan in the Hague today. Afghan President Hamid Karzai pledged to fight corruption and welcomed the Obama administration's plans for his country. With Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Asia attending, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the Obama administration's strategy is based on collaboration and co-operation.

"I thank President Obama and his distinguised team, notably Secretary Hillary Clinton, for injecting a fresh, strong and judicious leadership in the international effort to counter the threat of terrorism and civilise Pakistan and Afghanistan," Karzai said at the opening of the one-day conference.

He welcomed Barack Obama's Afghanistan strategy, announced on Friday, while noting that past promises of aid have been slow to arrive.

Under fire for the alleged corruption and inefficiency of his administration, Karzai claimed that progress had been made, with top officials fired for graft.

"The achievements we’ve had in building up institutions improving governance at various levels over the past seven years has been remarkable," he said. "This progress, however, has been nowhere near enough."

"The fight against corruption lies at the heart of our focus on improving governance."

Afghan President Hamid Karzai arrives at Rotterdam airport on 30 March 2009.
(Photo: Reuters)

In an attempt to replicate the US's alliance with Sunni-Muslim militias in Iraq, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for efforts to win over defectors from the Taliban.

"We must also support the efforts of  the government of Afghanistan to separate the extremists of Al-Qaeda and the Taliban from those who joined their ranks not out of conviction but out of desperation," said Clinton.

"This is, in fact, the case for a majority of those fighting with the Taliban. They should be offered an honourable form of reconciliation and reintegration into society if they are willing to abandon violence, break with Al-Qaeda and support the constitution," she added.

She said that agriculture is the key to developing the Afghan economy and promised aid, which she hopes will reduce heroin production.

"In consultation with the Afghan government, we have also identified agriculture, which comprises 70 per cent of Afghanistan’s economy as the key for development. In the 1970s Afghans exported food to their neighbours. They were often called the garden of central Asia. Today this sector lags far behind and its problems feed the deadly malignancy of the narcotics trade," said the US Secretary of State.

Iran and Pakistan are among more than 70 countries at the conference. Officials hope that Tehran will be brought into collective efforts on Afghanistan, particularly to fight the drug trade.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammad Mehdi Akhundzadeh called for a "more significant" role for the UN in Afghanistan, where the international presence is dominated by the US and the Nato military alliance.

"The presence of foreign forces has not improved things in the country," he told the conference. "And it seems that an increase in foreign forces will prove ineffective, too."

A promise to send thousands more troops is a key element of President Barack Obama's plan. Akhundzadeh called for an "Afghanisation" of security and adminstration.

Speaking on the conference sidelines, EU Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferraro-Waldner welcomed Iran's presence.

"It is already on the one hand a first answer, I would say, to President Obama’s new strategy - unclench the fist and then to show them that there is a chance to work with each other," she told RFI.

Ferraro-Waldner also welcomed efforts to work with Pakistan, despite its troubled relations with Kabul.

"Afghanistan and Pakistan have to work together," she said. "They have to eradicate Al-Qaeda, radical Talibans, but at the same time we have to help them with their development."

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi called for "a relationship of deeper trust and understanding" between the two countries.

He called on international forces to "unambiguously signal that they have no hidden agenda" to overcome suspicion of western motives in his country.