Request for rethink

Pakistan was being urged on Tuesday to rethink its plan to boycott an international conference on Afghanistan in protest at the death of 24 of its soldiers in an accidental attack by NATO forces at the weekend.

A direct plea from Afghanistan itself was made shortly after the decision to stay away was announced, with western nations also expressing concern.

The Pakistani government took the decision at a cabinet meeting in the eastern city of Lahore.

"Pakistan looks forward to the success of this conference but in view of the developments and prevailing circumstances has decided not to participate," said a statement issued at the end of the meeting.

The decision comes after a NATO attack on two Pakistani army posts on the border with Afghanistan last Saturday. NATO has since described the killings as a "tragic, unintended incident."

Afghan President Hamid Karzai made a personal appeal by telephone on Tuesday for Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to rethink the policy, a spokesman for Karzai said.

Karzai had "requested the prime minister to reconsider the decision as the conference was being convened for peace and stability in Afghanistan," according to a statement from Gilani's office.

No official confirmation

Afghanistan's foreign ministry had earlier said it had still not received an official confirmation that Pakistan would opt out of the meeting, to be held in the former German capital, Bonn.

"Our Pakistani brothers should remember that Bonn is an Afghan conference, it will be chaired and led by Afghans," said Afghan foreign ministry spokesman Janan Mosazai.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who will open the conference, said she regretted the Pakistani decision.

"We have always said the conflict can only be resolved in the region. Pakistan is a part of this region," she told reporters in Berlin. "Naturally we are very troubled that this refusal came today and we will definitely see if it can be revised," she added.

The December 5 conference will see foreign ministers and government representatives from almost 100 countries discuss the future of Afghanistan future in the period after 2014, which has been set as a deadline for NATO troop withdrawal.

Deep anger over air strike

Pakistan has described the air strike against its troops as unprovoked, and there have been angry protests in the country which have entered a fourth day. More than 150 people were reported to have demonstrated in Pakistani-administered Kashmir, the crowd setting fire to an American flag and an effigy of NATO head Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

Since the incident, Pakistan has closed the Afghan border to NATO convoys - a lifeline for 140,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan - and has ordered American personnel to vacate an air base.

In another development, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle on Tuesday welcomed an announcement that several Afghan regions were to be handed over to the country's own security forces.

"This is another important step on the path to the transfer of security responsibility and a good signal ahead of the Bonn Afghanistan conference," Westerwelle said in a statement.

The list of cities and provinces to be handed over, which cover half of Afghanistan's population, was announced by Karzai on Sunday.

Author: Richard Connor (AFP, dpa, Reuters)
Editor: Michael Lawton