Okada leaves for Afghan reconstruction confab

TOKYO, July 19 Kyodo -
Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada left Monday for Kabul to attend an
international meeting Tuesday on the Afghan reconstruction, where he plans to
announce new aid programs to help improve local security and reintegrate former
Taliban fighters.
As the second-largest donor to the war-torn country after the United States,
the Japanese offer will be worth tens of billion of yen and be covered by its
pledge last November of up to $5 billion over five years, foreign ministry
officials said.
Tokyo has already contributed about $2.4 billion for the country through
international and nongovernmental organizations.
The programs will feature vocational training for former Taliban insurgents to
help them rebuild their family lives and create jobs in construction and civil
engineering, the officials said.
Okada will also announce continued aid to meet detailed local need in such
areas as antidrug measures and land-mine clearance, as well as security by
covering pay for Afghan police and having Japan's National Police Agency train
their ranking officials, they said.
The Japanese minister is slated to travel to Hanoi after the Kabul conference
to attend ministerial gatherings organized by the 10-member Association of
Southeast Asian Nations, and to Laos on the last leg of his eight-day trip
through next Monday.
==Kyodo