'UK Offers to Host Afghanistan Conference Next Year', Reuters, 17 November 2009
EXCERPT: "Britain has offered to host an international conference early next year to set a timetable for transferring security responsibilities to Afghan forces from 2010, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Monday. The bloodiest year for British troops in Afghanistan has fueled public opposition to the campaign, creating another headache for Brown as he tries to close a big gap on the opposition Conservatives ahead of an election due by June. Brown, trying to show voters he had an exit strategy, argues that expanding training of Afghan security forces may allow Britain to reduce its troop numbers over time. He also presented the mission as part of the fight against al Qaeda, the militant Islamist group. Brown said that he had offered London as a venue for an international meeting on Afghanistan in the new year. Brown had referred to the conference being held in January in earlier excerpts from speech released to media."
Read the full article.
Related articles:
'Miliband calls for majority of Taliban to be reintegrated into Afghan society', The Guardian, 17 November 2009
'David Miliband: Afghanistan is "not a fight to the death"', The Telegraph, 17 November 2009
'Brown vows to finish Afghan fight', The New York Times, 17 November 2009
'MoD denies plan to pay off Taliban in Afghanistan', AFP, 16 November 2009
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'High-level conference to assess progress', 10 September 2009
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'Britain and US prepared to open talks with Taliban', 27 July 2009
