World meets in Tokyo on Afghan future ahead of run-off vote --- Delegates from around the world gathered in Tokyo on Thursday to discuss the way forward in Afghanistan in the wake of the presidential election and the drawdown of the US-led foreign military presence. -- Delegates from around the world gathered in Tokyo on Thursday to discuss the way forward in Afghanistan in the wake of the presidential election and the drawdown of the US-led foreign military presence. -- The International Contact Group on Afghanistan and Pakistan, which groups representatives from about 50 countries and global bodies, was attended by the Afghan deputy foreign minister. -- The event was taking place as the war-torn country awaited results from a presidential election, which will transfer power from Hamid Karzai and herald a new era. --- "It is important to recognise that the war is not over yet," Ershad Ahmadi, the Afghanistan deputy foreign minister, said at the opening of the meeting. -- "On the same token, to ensure lasting success, it is crucial that the international community maintains its support and engagement in Afghanistan at this critical period." --- The meeting is not a place for countries to make financial pledges, a Japanese government official said ahead of the event on Wednesday. -- "Broadly speaking, it will be an opportunity for the international community to commit continued assistance to Afghanistan," he said. -- "International troops are due to be withdrawn toward the year-end. They (Afghans) need to enforce public security by themselves from next year and there remain a host of domestic problems." --- The young democracy also faces "a number of tasks, such as enactment of a law against money laundering and the establishment of a framework on the use of natural resources and minerals," he said. - Agence France-Presse, http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/140515/world-meets-tokyo-afghan-future-ahead-run-vote