A major international conference on the future of Afghanistan has opened in London with over 60 countries taking part.

At the beginning of the meeting British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told delegates that international support would be strengthened to back up local Afghan security forces.

In addition he said that a new fund would be established to persuade members of the Taliban to renounce their support of al Qaeda and lay down their arms.

Karzai to fight corruption

Afghan President Hamid Karzai told the conference that two of his priorities were to re-establish leadership and ownership of Afghanistan by the Afghan people.

He said that he supported reassessing a list of dissidents regarded as being Taliban terrorists in the hope of reuniting elements in Afghan society.

He also asserted that he would "fight corruption by all means possible."

Karzai called for continued international support, saying that his country was "slowly but surely moving towards the goal of national security." He announced the establishment of a national council for peace and reconciliation, which, he hoped, would be an important step forward towards reuniting the fractious state.

Whatever the outcome of the conference, Karzai faces a difficult year. Elections are now due in September, having been postponed from May. And the Afghan president still hasn't managed to form a viable government.

td/apn/AFP
Editor: Michael Lawton