Holbrooke optimistic about Afghan future ahead of London conference

Jan 21, 2010, 22:48 GMT

Washington - Afghanistan's government is in a better position than at any time since US President Barack Obama took office last January, US envoy Richard Holbrooke said in testimony before the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, testifying before the same committee, said the next 12 to 18 months would mark a 'decisive period' in the international efforts to stabilize Afghanistan and bring down an insurgency by the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

Back from a trip to Europe, the Middle East and East Asia to drum up support for Afghanistan reconstruction, Holbrooke said he was optimistic ahead of an international conference in London next week designed to boost resources for the troubled East Asian nation.

'I found the situation in Kabul in a better position then it's been at any time in the year that we took office,' Holbrooke said, noting that Afghan President Hamid Karzai was able to focus on the future after a controversial election engulfed much of 2009.

Miliband said he expected a number of countries would use the London conference to announce fresh commitments and said it was right for people to call on the European Union to 'step up its role.'

'One of the things that the European Union will have to do is make sure ... that its development effort matches the scale of the need' in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, Miliband said.

Ministers from more than 60 countries are expected to attend the London conference on January 28.

Holbrooke was testifying as the United States released an outline of its strategy for civilian aid and other non-military involvement in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Obama in December announced a major surge of more than 30,000 US troops to Afghanistan in a bid to defeat the Taliban and al-Qaeda. He also promised an increased civilian and diplomatic effort that would continue even as the US begins a drawdown of its forces in July 2011.

'For the first time since this conflict began, we have a true whole-of-government approach,' Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in a statement releasing the report.