Us,Iranian and Afghan Talks/Whoa

 

Published on Tuesday, March 31, 2009 by the Associated Press

US and Iran at Afghan Talks

The United States was meeting today with countries from around the world, including its adversary Iran, to seek support for its new strategy to end a stalemate in Afghanistan.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was not expected to hold substantive talks with Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammad Mehdi Akhoundzadeh at the meeting in The Hague.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, left, and Afghanistan's President Hamid Karma, right, are seen at the start of a meeting at the Afghanistan Conference in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday March 31, 2009. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

But the conference would nonetheless bring the two together as Washington tries to enlist regional support in tackling Islamist militants in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Richard Holbrooke, US special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, said Iran's presence at the conference was a logical part of efforts to produce peace for Afghans.

"How can you talk about Afghanistan and exclude one of the countries that's a bordering, neighbouring state?" he told reporters in The Hague. "The presence of Iran here is obvious."

Ahead of the conference, Akhoundzadeh repeated Iran's opposition to the presence of US troops in Afghanistan.

"The presence of foreign troops cannot bring peace and stability for Afghanistan," he was quoted as saying by Iran's official IRNA news agency.

"It encourages radicalism," he said. "This policy (that the Western countries) decide for the Afghan nation and for the Afghan officials does not work out any more."  Full Story