Karzai holds talks with representatives of Hekmatyar; de Mistura: UN will back Afghan-led peace process and elections; Karzai visits Beijing, says Afghanistan is honoured to have China as friend and neighbour;
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  • President Karzai held talks with representatives of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar on March 22, marking a major move for efforts to end the 8 year war.1

    The newly appointed Special Representative of UN Secretary General Staffan de Mistura in a press conference in Kabul stated that the UN will provide support to Afghan Peace Jirga to be held in May as well as the upcoming parliamentary elections. He noted that the peace jirga was an “Afghan-led, Afghan-managed process …”2 de Mistura also announced that UN will select two international experts to serve in the country’s election complaints commission ahead of legislative polls scheduled in September 2010.3

    During the visit of President Karzai to Bejing, agreements relating to economic and technological cooperation, favorable tariffs for Afghan exports to China and training programs among others were signed. Karzai told President Hu that Afghanistan was honored to have China as a friend and neighbour. China has given more than 900 million yuan (130 million U.S. dollars) in aid for the rehabilitation efforts in Afghanistan since 2002. In 2009, it pledged to provide an additional $75 million dollars of aid over the next five years.4

    In other developments, testifying before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs, alongside Defense Secretary Gates, Secretary of State Clinton stated that American efforts in Pakistan were “vital to success in Afghanistan, but also to our own American security. We've made it a strategic priority to strengthen our partnership with the Pakistani people,"5

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