Afghanistan conference: Donors urged to pledge support

More than 50 countries are due to take part in a conference in London intended to boost Afghanistan's prospects after foreign combat forces withdraw.

Aid agencies working in Afghanistan are urging the international community to make long-term financial commitments or risk seeing the country collapse.

President Ashraf Ghani, who took power in September, has vowed to bring peace after decades of conflict.

He is expected to use the conference to seek endorsement for his plan for a "transformation decade" from 2015-24, and guarantees that troop withdrawals will not be quickly followed by cuts in financial aid.

"As Afghanistan has a commitment to introduce reforms, it will tell the international community, in particular, donors at the meeting, that this is our agenda for reform and based on it, they should assist and support us," Presidential Spokesman Nazifollah Salarzai told Afghan TV.

BBC diplomatic correspondent James Robbins says the meeting will encourage the new Afghan government to do far more than former President Hamid Karzai to tackle corruption, improve the country's security forces and demonstrate that no-one is above the law.   More at BBC