The two-day international conference on Afghanistan ended in Berlin Thursday, with participants promising comprehensive support for the war-torn country.    

According to The Berlin Declaration issued at the end of the conference, participating countries promised US$8.3 billion for the reconstruction in Afghanistan between March 2004 and March 2007, including US$4.4 billion in the 2004-2005 period.

The declaration said that while responsibility to maintain law and order rest with the Afghans themselves, the engagement of the UN-mandated international peace-keeping forces will be continued until new Afghan security and armed forces are sufficient and operational.

The international community is determined to expand security throughout Afghanistan, including deploying five additional so-called "Provincial Reconstruction Teams" by this summer, it said.

The conference also pledged to carry out disarmament and demobilization programs, intensify efforts in the formation of new Afghan army and police and establish functional judicial systems.

The opium poppy cultivation, drug production and trafficking pose a serious threat to the rule of law and development in Afghanistan as well as to international security, the declaration noted.

Therefore, Afghanistan and the international community should do everything to reduce and eventually eliminate this threat, it said.

It welcomed the joint efforts by Afghanistan and its neighboring countries to fight narcotics as demonstrated in a statement signed earlier in the day.

It also noted that Afghanistan still has a long way to go in reconstruction and its success depends much on the continued commitment of international donors as on the efforts of the Afghan government itself.

Co-sponsored by Germany and Afghanistan, the conference was attended by senior officials from nearly 60 countries as well as international organizations.

(Xinhua News Agency April 2, 2004)