Italian's Prodi makes unannounced visit to Afghanistan (Roundup)

Kabul - Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi arrived Sunday in Kabul on an unannounced visit and met with his Afghan counterpart and Italian troops in the war-torn country, officials said. Prodi met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in his presidential palace and assured him of his government's long-term support. Both leaders assessed the recent achievements in Afghanistan and praised progress in areas including health, education, energy and foreign private investment, a presidential statement said. Italy is one of the biggest donors of the post-Taliban Afghan government and is the lead nation in the reform of Afghanistan's judicial system. Also in Kabul, Prodi met the top commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in the country, General Dan McNeill, before flying to western province of Herat, where he met Italian troops serving under the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, ISAF said in a statement. Italy has deployed around 2,400 soldiers to Afghanistan as part of 41,000 troops working under the banner of the 39-nation ISAF. Most of the Italian soldiers are stationed in relatively peaceful western province of Herat and some around Kabul. Prodi's visit came a day after the leaders of France and Australia, who both visited Afghanistan on Sunday and reassured their 'long-haul' commitments to the Afghan government. The visits by Western leaders come at the end of the bloodiest year since the ouster of the Taliban regime in late 2001. More than 6,200 people have been killed in Afghanistan this year. © 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

And Also

Look Back at the Worst Celebrity Breakups

Look Back at the Worst Celebrity Breakups - PopEater
Office 2010 confirmed for June 2010 - The Tech Herald
Peter Berg Says No Hancock 2, For Now - Cinema Blend
Lisa Loeb Welcomes Baby Girl, Lyla Rose - PopEater
A&E series 'Hoarders' and 'Intervention' premiere Monday, Nov. 30th, preview

Your Talkback on this Story

Latest Headlines in South Asia

Older Talkback

page: 1

Afghanistan is a our colony, so come when we canDec 26th, 2007 - 00:09:46

Afghanistan is our colony, our friends can visit whenever they want. Karzai is just our slave.

Report this comment

page: 1

South Asia

South Asia News

Italian's Prodi makes unannounced visit to Afghanistan (Roundup)

And Also

Your Talkback on this Story

Similar articles

Latest Headlines in South Asia

Older Talkback

From Sites we Like

In Monsters and Critics

Corporate

The Fine Print