(1 Apr 2004)
1. News conference
2. Photographers
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Hamid Karzai, Afghan President:
"Today I''m here before you in this press conference, a very satisfied man. We''ve just gotten out of the very successful conference in Berlin, in which the countries helping Afghanistan pledged 8.2 billion (US) dollars for three years of which 4.5 billion (US) dollars is for this year alone. We''re very, very grateful for all those countries and their contribution and for having come all the way to pledge their taxpayers''s money to the rebuilding and peace in Afghanistan."
4. German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer and Karzai
5. SOUNDBITE (German) Joschka Fischer, German Foreign Minister:
"I think that is an impressive signal. It''s not just important for the build-up right now, yet also for the long term political, material but also the moral obligations of the international community for the reconstruction in Afghanistan."
6. Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah (middle)
7. Karzai
8. Wide shot conference, then zoom in and pan of delegates signing anti-drug pact - mid shots of officials from China, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan signing
9. Pan of delegates signing anti-drug pact
STORYLINE:
Countries backing Afghanistan pledged on Thursday to help improve security throughout the country and keep giving funds in the long term to support the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
The broad statement of support adopted by more than 50 countries after a two-day donors'' conference at which governments pledged 8.2 (b) billion US dollars in new reconstruction aid.
Donor countries said they were "determined to assist further in the stabilisation of the security situation throughout the country" and stated that "the continued commitment of donors" is critical to Afghanistan''s stability.
Karzai said he was very satisfied and grateful.
The conference''s closing statement welcomed NATO''s plan to have five new so-called "provincial reconstruction teams," protecting rebuilding efforts outside the capital Kabul, up and running by this summer.
But it made no reference to any new troop commitments.
With regional warlords yet to be disarmed and a Taliban-led insurgency persisting in the south and east, Karzai''s government still has little authority outside the capital.
Also on Thursday, Afghanistan and its neighbours agreed to cooperate in stemming the country''s drug exports, addressing Karzai''s stark warning that opium production and the drug trade "are threatening the very existence of the Afghan state."
Karzai''s government has banned growing of opium poppies - the raw material for heroin - but its lack of authority outside Kabul makes the law difficult to enforce.
The accord commits Afghanistan, China, Pakistan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan to strengthening security in their border areas,
creating a "security belt around Afghanistan" and exploring the possibility of coordinated anti-drug operations.
The seven nations pledged to seize "the maximum possible quantity of opiates as they leave Afghanistan" and combat drug cultivation.
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