Kabul conference opens with Afghan leader urging more Afghan control of donor funds, security
By APTuesday, July 20, 2010
Karzai calls for more control of funds, security
KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghan President Hamid Karzai is urging international partners to help his country move toward responsibility for its own security and for government programs as an international conference opens in the Afghan capital.
Karzai said Tuesday that Afghanistan and Western powers backing the country share “a vicious common enemy.” But, he said, victory will come in giving Afghans as much responsibility as possible in combatting the insurgency within its borders.
The plan expected to be adopted at the one-day conference involves transferring security in all 34 provinces to the government by the end of 2014 — more than three years after President Barack Obama’s date for the start of an American troop drawdown.
