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U.S. Delegation in Brussels to Reaffirm its Commitment to Afghanistan

(U.S. Announces Increased Assistance to Afghanistan) (340)
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher released a statement March
17 announcing that a U.S. delegation is in Brussels to meet with
Afghan officials and representatives from other donor countries, in a
follow-up meeting to the Afghanistan Development Forum held in Kabul
March 13-14.
The statement noted that the U.S. would announce increased assistance
to Afghanistan in the coming year, "irrespective of responsibilities
the United States must fulfill elsewhere."
Following is the text of the statement issued by the State Department
on March 17, 2003.
(begin text)
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
March 17, 2003
Statement by Richard Boucher, Spokesman
U.S. Delegation in Brussels to Reaffirm its Commitment to Afghanistan
Under Secretary of State for Economic, Business, and Agricultural
Affairs Alan Larson led a U.S. delegation today in Brussels to meet
officials from the government of Afghanistan and other donor nations
to review Afghanistan's upcoming budgetary and development needs and
to pledge continued assistance. Mr. Larson was joined by Assistant
Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration Gene Dewey,
Under Secretary of Treasury John Taylor, Under Secretary of Defense
Dov Zakheim, and U.S. Agency for International Development Deputy
Administrator Frederick Schieck. The meeting was a follow-on to the
March 13-14 session in Kabul of the Afghanistan Development Forum,
where Afghan officials outlined their spending priorities to the
international donor community.
Echoing the February 27 Joint Statement issued by President Bush and
President Karzai, Mr. Larson underscored the "lasting and ironclad
partnership" between the United States and Afghanistan. He reaffirmed
that the United States would stay the course in Afghanistan,
irrespective of responsibilities the United States must fulfill
elsewhere. In this regard, Mr. Larson announced that the United States
will significantly increase its assistance to Afghanistan and will
provide $820 million in the current fiscal year, 44 percent more than
the $569 million provided in Fiscal Year 2002.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)