Iran's FM To Attend Int'l Afghanistan Confab In Bonn

Berlin, Dec 4, IRNA - Iran's Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi is to take part in an international conference on Afghanistan's future in the German city of Bonn, an Iranian diplomatic source told IRNA Saturday. Salehi is set to arrive in Bonn later in the day to join discussions with other key world leaders on the future of the war-stricken nation. Iran's top diplomat is expected to meet with his German counterpart Guido Westerwelle this afternoon at 5 pm local time (1600 GMT). There are also unconfirmed plans for a series of high-level bilateral meetings with Salehi at the Afghanistanistan conference, among them UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt. The Afghanistan confab in Bonn is to focus on the transfer of security responsibilities to the Afghan government; peace talks with the Taliban; economic development; and long-term regional stability. Diplomatic representatives from around 85 countries and 16 international organizations are also slated to discuss long-term assistance for the embattled country after NATO combat troops withdraw from Afghanistan in late 2014. The Afghanistan conference has been overshadowed by Pakistan's planned boycott of the international meeting in the wake of NATO's deadly assault on Pakistani troops. German officials have repeatedly said Iran and Pakistan were crucial to pacifying the situation in Afghanistan./end