Kabul needs its neighbors, envoy says

BONN, Germany, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- Cooperation from Afghanistan's neighbors is needed to achieve a sustainable and peaceful future, a former U.S. ambassador said.

World delegates are gathered for an Afghan conference in Bonn, Germany. The aim of the conference is to discuss ways to ensure the country is able to maintain stability with international forces looking at a 2014 departure date.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai was quoted by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty as saying his country didn't want to be a burden on the international community but sustained assistance was needed.

"To make our success certain and our progress irreversible, we would need your steadfast support for at least another decade," he said.

Afghanistan may need at least $7 billion in foreign aid per year through the next decade to fund its fledgling military force. German delegates at the conference vowed to remain a strong partner to Kabul even after forces leave 2014.

But Zalmay Khalilzad, former U.S. envoy to Afghanistan, said that it was Kabul's neighbors that were essential to long-term stability.

"To bring peace to Afghanistan, cooperation from its neighbors is essential, especially if peace is to be reached in the near future," he told RFE/RL. "This means that if Pakistan doesn't cooperate and continues its fight against efforts in Afghanistan, then this process will take much longer."

Pakistan boycotted the Bonn conference in response to a NATO airstrike that left dozens of its troops dead.