Foreign ministers arrive in Kabul for regional conference

The Afghan capital Kabul was set to host a regional conference on security and confidence-building on Thursday.

"We are all ready for the Heart of Asia ministerial conference in Kabul," Khwaja Masoom, a senior official at the presidential palace, told dpa. "Foreign dignitaries have all arrived in the capital."

Ministers and senior government officials from 30 countries, including the United States, Britain, Germany, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey and Central Asian nations, were due to attend.

The conference is a follow-up to the Istanbul Process - a meeting in Turkey in November that saw no substantial pledge apart from a broad commitment to cooperation.

The Kabul conference is set to come up with seven measures to build confidence in the region. The are to include the economy, security, reconstruction, cooperation in the fight against terrorism and drug trafficking.

The idea of the Istanbul Process was to establish a new regional mechanism for Afghanistan's neighbours to play a greater role in the ending of the insurgency. It also hoped to increase economic ties and promote regional cooperation on trade and development.

Extra security measures were in place in Kabul.

"We have deployed additional police in the city and several roads are closed for security reasons," General Ayoub Salangi, the head of Kabul police, told dpa. "We hope to have a peaceful conference until the end of the day."