Afghanistan conference agrees on exit timetable

By DAVID STRINGER and JILL LAWLESS
The Associated Press
Thursday, January 28, 2010

LONDON -- World leaders meeting in London on Thursday agreed on a timetable for the handover of security duties in Afghan provinces starting in late 2010 or early 2011.

In their final communique, the leaders also pledged funds for a plan aimed at persuading Taliban fighters to renounce violence - but offered no specific figures.

The meeting backed Afghan President Hamid Karzai's plan to reintegrate Taliban willing to "cut ties with al-Qaida and other terrorist groups and pursue their political goals peacefully."

It said handover of security responsibilities to Afghan forces in the country's more peaceful provinces would begin "by late 2010/early 2011," with the Afghan National Army "conducting the majority of operations in the insecure areas of Afghanistan within three years."

The conference was called to help world powers chart a roadmap out of Afghanistan amid rising U.S. and NATO casualties and falling public support.

The 70 nations welcomed Karzai's promise to crack down on corruption and said a summit in Kabul later this year would offer specific plans to bolster his faltering government.

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