Protesters outside the International Conference on Afghanistan held at Lancaster House, St James's, London SW1 on Thursday 28 Jan 2010 demonstrating against the West's involvement in the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan. London, U.K. 28/1/10.
Protests were low key this morning outside today's Conference on Afghanistan co-hosted in London by UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, and the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon. The Conference draws together high-ranking delegates from more than 70 countries to discuss military and economic interest in Afghanistan.
One policeman said that there was a "massive police presence", but that far fewer protesters had turned up than expected.
The talks are being held in Lancaster House, Stable Yard, St James's, London SW1A 1BB, United Kingdom.
The UK government's Afghanistan website (afghanistan.hmg.gov.uk) states the purpose of the conference (officially titled Afghanistan: The London Conference) is to "fully align military and civilian resources behind the an Afghan-led political strategy". The UK based Stop the War Coalition see the talks as a nothing more than a re-branding exercise: an attempt to "turn the tide of public opinion, running so strongly against" what the Coalition call a "clearly futile and un-winnable" war.
However, the conference is seen by many as thinly disguised talks on how best to discharge the West's responsibilities over to the incumbent Afghani government to allow for the eventual withdrawal of troops.
Links:
afghanistan.hmg.gov.uk
stopwar.org.uk
