Karzai to co-chair "high-level" UN meeting on Afghanistan

New York, September 14, 2007 (Pajhwok Afghan News): The United Nations would hold a special "high-level" meeting on Afghanistan during the upcoming General Assembly session, a senior UN official said here.

The "high-level" meeting to be held on September 23 on the sidelines of the 62nd session of the General Assembly would be co-chaired by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and President Hamid Karzai.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, along with representatives of several key nations, would also attend the meeting. Expected to last nearly three hours, the meeting is being held to review progress of the mission in Afghanistan and set the pace for coming years.

"The objective of the meeting is to galvanize the international communitys long-term commitment to assist Afghanistan under the framework of the Afghanistan Compact, as well as to reaffirm the United Nations' central role in a strategically coordinated international partnership in support of Afghanistan,"Nicolas Haysom, Director for Political Affairs in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General, said.

"The event would also examine ways to help Afghanistan face the issues of counter-terrorism, counter-narcotics, governance and regional cooperation," Haysom said.

The UN Security Council is also schedule to discuss the current situation in Afghanistan sometime around September 23 or before that. While reviewing the progress made in Afghanistan, the Security Council is expected to give a six-month extension to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan or UNAMA, whose current tenure expires on September 23.