UK pressures Karzai at Kabul conference
William Hague has demanded the Afghan government makes quicker progress in tackling corruption as the Kabul conference gets underway.
The foreign secretary backed president Hamid Karzai’s proposal to be given more control over aid spending in the country in return for intensified training of Afghan security forces.
Under Mr Karzai’s plans the Afghan national army would begin assuming control of some areas of the country from US forces from July 2011, when US president Barack Obama has said troop withdrawals will begin.
The handover process would then be completed in 2014. A draft copy of the conference communiqué stated that Afghan forces would “lead and conduct” military operations by then, the Reuters news agency reported.
Britain’s focus is on aid, however, after international development secretary Andrew Mitchell announced a 40% increase in spending to £710 million yesterday.
Comment: A disingenuous aid boost for Afghanistan
Officials hope giving more of this money to the Afghan government – which currently only controls around one-fifth of all aid spending in Afghanistan – will help boost the country’s poor reputation for governance.
“We are committed to maintaining and exceeding the 50% target of support through Afghan systems,” Mr Hague told the conference.
“But we will always need to see that the government is making the best possible use of our, and its own, money.
This means continuing on a path of improved financial management and budget execution, as well as tackling corruption at all times. Much progress has been made, but more is needed.”
Shadow foreign secretary David Miliband, who chaired the London conference on Afghanistan in January, sought to downplay the significance of development spending.
“This is not a conventional war. It will not be won by military means alone,” he said.
“Nor will increases in aid buy us victory. To achieve the outcome we all want to see – a country that will never again be the world centre for terrorism – we need a political settlement that involves every Afghan who will abide by their country’s constitution.”
He called on Mr Hague to “challenge the Afghan government’s delivery of its side of the bargain” but added that “there is no room for mixed messages from the government”.
