Afghanistan Aid Talks Begin in Berlin

With the ink still drying on the Bonn agreement for a transition government in Kabul, members of the international community gathered in Berlin on Wednesday to discuss the billions in economic and humanitarian aid that new government will need.

Representatives from the 15-nation Afghanistan Support Group and the United Nations as well as members of other international aid organizations are taking part in a two-day meeting that began Wednesday afternoon in Germany's capital.

At stake is the logistics in delivering the billions of dollars in aid Afghanistan will need in the coming months as well as the plight of refugees that have streamed out of the country during two decades of war and poverty.

In October, international donors promised more than $600 million in aid to Afghanistan. Conference participants, among them United Nations Refugee Commissioner Ruud Lubbers and members of the European Commission, are expected to decide how and when that aid can get to the Afghan people.

Germany's Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, who has stressed the importance of a humanitarian mission following any military action, opened the conference. "This conference must give a clear signal that we will not leave the Afghan people alone in their hunger and need," Fischer said.

The German government, the current chair of the support group, has already pledged more than $80 million for reconstruction efforts in the Afghanistan.

The European Union, which will also deliver millions in aid, announced Wednesday that it will re-open its humanitarian aid office in Kabul, which it left in 1998.

Peacekeeping forces

A small international corps of soldiers charged with securing the country for a humanitarian aid mission have already begun to gather in Tadjikistan.

The country's president, Emomali Rachmonow, said about 190 French soldiers would arrive at a military base in Kuljab, 50 kilometers from the Afghan border, some time Wednesday. They will join 21 American soldiers and 39 Italian soldiers, charged with humanitarian aid and rescue operations.

Members of the international community are still discussing whether or not to deploy a peacekeeping force which could help stabilize the country for international aid organizations. German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder on Wednesday promised German participation in any peacekeeping effort.