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| Britain | |
| Britain plans Afghan handover conference | |
| 2009-11-17 | |
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown offered to host an international conference on Afghanistan in London, which he said could set a time-frame for a handover of security to Afghan forces from 2010.
"I have offered London as a venue in the new year," Brown said in his annual speech to the Lord Mayor's Banquet. A pre-released version of the speech quoted him as offering to host a conference in January. "I want that conference to chart a comprehensive political framework within which the military strategy can be accomplished. "It should identify a process for transferring district by district to full Afghan control and if at all possible set a timetable for transfer starting in 2010." Western leaders have insisted Afghan President Hamid Karzai tackle corruption as a condition for support in his second term which begins Thursday. Brown, tipped to lose Britain's general election next year to the opposition, is facing mounting pressure over his country's involvement in the war as British casualties mount. | |
| Posted by:ed |