Brown demands Afghanistan benchmarks

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago, Nov. 28 (UPI) -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai must commit to benchmarks on corruption and developing security forces, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Saturday.

Brown, who made the announcement with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, said the targets would be set at an international conference on Afghanistan to be held Jan. 28 in London, the BBC reported. Brown confirmed plans for the conference while attending a meeting of Commonwealth of Nations leaders in Trinidad and Tobago.

"What we need is a political push to match the military push we're now agreeing to," Brown said. "And that means that President Karzai has got to accept that there will be milestones by which he's going to be judged and he's got to accept that there will be benchmarks which the international community will set."

The 43 countries participating in the International Security Assistance Force have been invited to the conference, but the Taliban will not be, Brown said.

The London conference and a later one in Kabul will "outline the framework for an increased lead role for the Afghans in the shaping of their destiny," Ban said.