(Click To Enlarge)U.S. Air Force Capt. Loftin Graham inspects a KC-135R Stratotanker aircraft on Manas Air Base, Kyrgyzstan, May 28, 2008, prior to another refueling mission over Afghanistan. Graham is assigned to the 22nd Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron, 376th Air Expeditionary Wing deployed from Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash. U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Andy Dunaway
France To Host Regional Afghan Meeting By Year-End -- Yahoo News/Reuters
PARIS (Reuters) – France will host an informal meeting between Afghanistan and its neighbors before year's end in hopes of stabilizing the violence-wracked country, the French foreign ministry said on Tuesday.
Attacks on Afghan government forces and NATO troops supporting them have been on the upswing this year, as have been fighting in neighboring Pakistan between government troops and insurgents who operate on both sides of the border.
Ministry spokesman Eric Chevallier told a weekly news briefing that the meeting will "explore cooperation between Afghanistan and its immediate neighbors on several subjects, including political, economic, trade... and also security."
It would focus on countries bordering Afghanistan, but others may also participate.
"We'll see if, in a broader way, other actors can be included and associated, at a different level and with different modalities -- for example members of the P5 or other actors," he said, referring to the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council known as the P5.
Afghanistan borders on China, Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
Read more ....
My Comment: I doubt that concrete actions will result from these discussions, but it is a start.