by David Gura

Afgan President Hamid Karzai (C), flanke
Shah Marai/AFP

Afgan President Hamid Karzai, flanked by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and other delegates, following the International Conference on Afghanistan.

At a major international donor conference in Kabul, Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, the president of Afghanistan, told more than 70 high-level diplomats that Afghans want to have responsibility for their own security by 2014, and more control over the international aid that is piped into the country.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the conference was about accountability — for the U.S., the international community, and the Afghan government, to assess the progress that has been made so far.

According to NPR's Quil Lawrence, Clinton promised the U.S. is not abandoning Afghanistan, and pledged support for the Afghan plan to begin channeling more aid dollars through government channels.

 

"We know the road ahead will not be easy," she said. "Citizens of many nations represented here, including my own, wonder whether success is even possible — and if so, whether we all have the commitment to achieve it."

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki was among the delegates who attended the conference. Reporters asked Clinton if that was any indication the U.S. is engaging in back-channel or direct negotiations with Iran.

"Iran was here today because of the simple and avoidable fact that it is a neighbor with long-standing cultural and historical connections," she said. "We were expecting them to be here."

We believe it is important for all of Afghanistan's neighbors to play a constructive role in the future of Afghanistan. We'll have to wait and see what Iran is willing to do. We're in a post-sanctions environment.

Amb. Richard Holbrooke, the Obama administration's special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, joined Clinton at the conference.

During Clinton's speech, while she was talking about the 2014 timeline, Holbrooke began to talk to someone behind her, NPR's Jackie Northam reports. Mid-sentence, Clinton turned around and said, "Excuse me, Richard, I'm trying to talk, thank you very much."

According to Northam, "He apologized and looked chastened."