AFGHANISTAN - Dec. 18 - Kabul Is Promised $1.2 Bn.

Concluding a 2-day meeting of the Afghanistan Support Group in Oslo, about two dozen donor nations rally to the support of Pres. Hamid Karzai pledging $1.2 bn for aid and rebuilding in 2003. Officials say they expect an additional $800m in pledges in three months. If all the pledges materialise, the flow of aid in 2003 will exceed the flow in 2002 by 33%. The Afghanistan Support Group dissolves itself and turns responsibility over to a streamlined "consultative group" based in Kabul and led by the Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani. David Johnson, the US State Department co-ordinator for Afghanistan, said: "The shift is both a recognition of reality and a political signal that the Afghans are taking responsibility for their own future". Privately, some delegates expressed concern that corruption and unrest in the country could interfere with the fair distribution of aid. But Karzai promised "transparency, accountability and efficiency". (Large donor nations and the EU formed the Afghanistan Support Group in 1997 to aid the war-torn country, mostly controlled by the Taliban regime). Karzai admitted to serious practical problems in governing his fractious nation, but insisted his political support was solid. He said: "Politically, we are fine. Administratively, we are not".