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Saturday, 18 May 2002

NEW MILLIONS FOR AFGHAN SECURITY

Published in News Digest

By empty (5/18/2002 issue of the CACI Analyst)

A donors meeting in Geneva is said to have produced informal pledges worth tens of millions of dollars towards reconstructing Afghanistan\'s security services - enough, the UN says, to make a start on a number of security-related projects. The meeting, attended by around 35 donor countries, the UN\'s special representative for Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi, and Afghanistan\'s Interim Foreign Minister, Abdullah Abdullah, was aimed at firming up offers of assistance to help Afghanistan rebuild its army, police force and other security services. Mr Brahimi, refused to reveal figures, pointing out that offers and commitments had been made verbally and in a piecemeal fashion.
A donors meeting in Geneva is said to have produced informal pledges worth tens of millions of dollars towards reconstructing Afghanistan\'s security services - enough, the UN says, to make a start on a number of security-related projects. The meeting, attended by around 35 donor countries, the UN\'s special representative for Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi, and Afghanistan\'s Interim Foreign Minister, Abdullah Abdullah, was aimed at firming up offers of assistance to help Afghanistan rebuild its army, police force and other security services. Mr Brahimi, refused to reveal figures, pointing out that offers and commitments had been made verbally and in a piecemeal fashion. But sources say the amount involved was substantial. A number of donors offered to provide training, money to pay salaries or to provide Afghanistan\'s future army with specific items like communications equipment or jeeps. Japan agreed to take the lead, along with the United Nations, in developing schemes to demobilize large numbers of armed men and indicated its willingness to provide funds. (BBC)
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