Clinton: Afghanistan government transition too important

The US Secretary of State has told an international conference in Kabul that a transition to Afghan leadership was too important to put off indefinitely.

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The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has told a major international conference in Kabul that a transition to Afghan leadership was too important to put off indefinitely. The US President Barack Obama late last year ordered an extra 30,000 American troops into Afghanistan as part of a push designed to reverse Taliban momentum but said he wanted to start bringing US forces home from July 2011. "The July 2011 date captures both our sense of urgency and the strength of our resolve. The transition process is too important to push off indefinitely," Mrs Clinton told the conference of about 70 organisations and countries.

"But this date is the start of a new phase, not the end of our involvement. We have no intention of abandoning our long-term mission of achieving a stable, secure, peaceful Afghanistan," she said. *AFP