London, November 29: The British prime minister says he will set targets for the Afghan president so that NATO forces can start to hand over control of Afghanistan to local forces.
Gordon Brown said Saturday that President Karzai needed to draw up a credible plan before attending an international conference on Afghanistan in London in late January.
“I want the conference in London to set the conditions needed for district by district handover to Afghan lead responsibility,” Brown noted, saying the first benchmark will come three months after the conference.
Brown urged the Afghan government to have a clear plan for training more police forces, reducing corruption among officers and appointing nearly 400 local governors.
The British premier also asked Karzai to take steps to train an additional 50,000 Afghan troops which could replace the 43-nation NATO-led forces in at least five districts by the end of 2010.
His comments come amid public anger in Britain at the rising number of British fatalities in Afghanistan.
There are currently 9,500 British troops in Afghanistan. The British government is set to announce the decision on sending 500 more troops to the war-torn country.
——Agencies