Afghan leader to ask donors for $28 billion

AFGHANISTAN: The Afghan president, Mr Hamid Karzai, will call on the international community to contribute $28 billion (€22.…

AFGHANISTAN: The Afghan president, Mr Hamid Karzai, will call on the international community to contribute $28 billion (€22.9 billion) to continue the rebuilding of Afghanistan at the opening of an international donors conference in Berlin this morning, writes Derek Scally in Berlin

Mr Karzai said yesterday after talks with the Chancellor Gerhard Schröder that only through international contributions could Afghanistan reach "a higher state of legitimacy and more stability and peace".

"Afghanistan will eventually stand on its own feet . . . and will no longer be a burden on the shoulders of the world and countries friendly to it. Afghanistan will be able to pay for itself," he said, referring to the plan laying out development of the country until 2014.

Today's conference takes place amid the highest level of security.

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Yesterday German special forces sealed off the Intercontinental Hotel in western Berlin, diverted traffic from the immediate area and posted snipers on nearby roof-tops.

The two-day event will be attended by the US Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, and the UN Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan as well as representatives of 55 governments, including the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen.

Western officials say Afghanistan will be lucky to receive half the $28 billion it is seeking. Afghan officials counter that they are demanding very little in the long term, considering it costs the international community around $13 billion to keep peacekeepers in the country. They warn a shortfall in aid will encourage farmers to increase production of opium, the raw ingredient for heroin. Last year narcotics trade was worth $2.3 billion to Afghanistan last year, over half the value of the country's GDP.

The European Commission said yesterday it was continuing its €200 million annual aid contribution to Afghanistan but expressed concern about security and the "alarming growth in the production of narcotics".

"Despite some important advances, including the adoption of the new constitution, Afghanistan faces serious challenges which it cannot yet tackle alone," said Mr Chris Patten, the EU External Relations Commissioner.

The conference comes three years after the Bonn agreement that created an interim government in Afghanistan and days after Mr Karzai rescheduled to September presidential and parliamentary elections planned for June.

Mr Schröder praised Mr Karzai's leadership, but warned: "Your country has already achieved quite a lot but there are difficult times still ahead and not all the problems solved, by no means not all of the security problems. No one can dispute that."