Norwegian foreign minister visits Afghanistan

Nov 11, 2009, 10:32 GMT

Oslo - Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store arrived Wednesday in Afghanistan for an unannounced two-day visit including talks with President Hamid Karzai, the Foreign Ministry in Oslo said.

'Afghanistan needs an effective, legitimate and inclusive leadership,' Store said in a statement, adding there was also need for better coordination of international efforts.

Karzai was recently declared the winner of the August presidential election.

Store said Norway hoped for 'constructive cooperation' with the incoming government and said there was need for progress in tackling 'corruption and organized crime' and to give more priority to human rights and women's rights.

Last week, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen visited NATO member Norway as part of his efforts to drum up more support for the mission in Afghanistan.

On Monday, Store met in Oslo with UN special envoy Kai Eide, whose recent calls for reforms in Afghanistan drew criticism from Kabul.

In addition to Karzai, Store was due to meet with his Afghan counterpart Rangin Dadfar Spanta as well as Abdullah Abdullah the presidential challenger to Karzai who pulled out of the run-off presidential election.

Store was also scheduled to meet US General Stanley McChrystal, commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

For 2009 Norway has allocated some 130 million dollars for education, good governance and rural development programmes.

On Tuesday, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, arrived in Kabul for an unannounced two-day visit.