Afpak: Secretary Clinton suggests an international conference

March 5, 2:52 PMForeign Policy ExaminerAimee Kligman

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Clinton with NATO Secretary Jaap de Hoop Scheffer (AP)

Secretary of State Clinton left the Middle East for Europe and arrived in Brussels today.

In her first address to the NATO alliance, she suggested a high-level international conference that would be chaired by the UN on March 31st, 2009 and that would include leaders from both Afghanistan and Pakistan. In addition, she extended an invitation to NATO allies, the other partners which constitute the international force in Afghanistan (41 countries), other key regional players (Iran?), donors and international organizations.

Agence France Presse was able to obtain a copy of her speech.

'We must recognize that one tiny, remote corner of the world -- the borders of Pakistan -- is the nerve center for extremists who planned 9/11; the bombings in Madrid and London, the assassination of (former Pakistani Prime Minister) Benazir Bhutto and the recent carnage in Mumbai,' she said. 'They are planning similar attacks right now,' she added.

Though she did not specify where the conference would be held, it is thought that it might either be Brussels or the Netherlands.

She also made the following points:

'President Barack Obama has pledged to send an additional 17,000 troops to Afghanistan and we appreciate that some countries are sending more support. The situation on the ground is very dangerous, and we must add resources to respond right now; we also need to increase developmental aid, so as to help in the creation and reinforcement of the Afghan police and army in order that they might take over responsibility for the safety of Afghan people.'

With regard to Afghanistan, EU Chief Diplomat Javier Solana declared at that meeting that there was much to do, and not only in the military sense.  He stressed that this was not solely a military problem, and that more could be done in the areas of policing, reconstruction, regional area disputes, - because it's not just Afghanistan, but also Pakistan, which is most important to the stability of Afghanistan.

Secretary Clinton discussed the conference with both Afghan and Pakistani foreign ministers when they visited Washington last week.