Analysts Have Mixed Expectations Before Afghan Donor Conference

Representatives from about 60 countries are arriving in Kabul for a major international donor conference scheduled for Tuesday.

19 July 2010

Analysts and regional experts agree there is no easy way forward to guide Afghanistan out of nearly nine years of war.

Violence has reached record levels in recent months, as the Taliban intensifies its insurgency, and NATO and Afghan forces bear down on militant strongholds.

Officials view the donor conference in Kabul as the follow-up to a January conference in London where Afghan President Hamid Karzai pitched his plan to reintegrate Taliban militants willing to lay down their weapons.

At that time, representatives from 60 countries pledged more than $140 million to a fund designed for reintegration. But last week, the British Ambassador to Afghanistan, William Patey, told reporters that most of this money still has not been provided.

"The U.K. is actually the only country to actually have given, put money - physically put money - into the reintegration fund," he said. "Other countries have pledged money, but the only check that has been delivered is the U.K.'s check."

Patey says Britain has delivered about $3 million into the hands of the Afghan government for reintegrating militants, and he pledges to deliver even more.

Despite the lack of other concrete donations, the former presidential rival of Mr. Karzai, Abdullah Abdullah, tells VOA he does not doubt the commitment of the international community heading into the Kabul conference.