Pakistan to boycott Bonn conference

It comes 10 years after a similar gathering held in the city, weeks after the Taliban fell from power.

Organisers want to bolster long-term international engagement with Afghanistan and support efforts to restore security.

But key player Pakistan is boycotting the talks in protest at a Nato attack on a border checkpoint last month.

Nato apologised for the air strike on 26 November in which 24 Pakistani troops were killed.

The US and other Western nations have long suspected Pakistan of harbouring the Taliban and other insurgent groups, including the Haqqani network, blamed for attacks on the Afghan side of the border.

Many observers regard a long-term commitment to Afghanistan as critical, as most Western forces prepare to leave the country by 2014.

About 1,000 delegates from 100 countries and international organisations are taking part in Monday's gathering.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is among some dozens of senior ministers in attendance.

Much of the worst fighting in the decade-long conflict takes place in eastern Afghanistan, close to the Pakistani border.

More than 500 Nato troops have been killed so far this year in Afghanistan.

"Our objective is a peaceful Afghanistan that will never again become a safe haven for international terrorism," German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said.

Former UN envoy to Afghanistan Lakhdar Brahimi says he argued 10 years ago in favour of immediate moves towards dialogue with the Taliban - which were ousted by the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.

Efforts to launch talks with the Taliban are under way, but have brought no tangible result so far.

Reconciliation efforts suffered a major setback in September, with the assassination of former President Burhanuddin Rabbani, who was leading Kabul's effort to broker peace with the insurgents.