Text fwd: Holbrooke Arranges Japan to pay Afghan police salaries

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http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/03/09/america/NA-US-Japan-Afghanistan.php

Holbrooke Arranges Japan to pay Afghan police salaries

The Associated Press
Monday, March 9, 2009

WASHINGTON: Japan will pay six months' salary for Afghanistan's 80,000 police officers, an effort to curb violence so aid workers can attend to urgent humanitarian needs, two senior Japanese envoys said Monday.

The $124 million for police salaries comes as Afghanistan prepares for crucial August elections.

The money will be handed over by the end of this month for distribution by a United Nations Development Program fund, Japan's special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Motohide Yoshikawa, and President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency Sadako Ogata told reporters after meeting with the U.S. representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke.

The money, they said, is part of a $300 million Japanese package that will also pay for child vaccines and new clinics, teachers and schools. Japan has pledged $2 billion in aid for Afghanistan, of which nearly $1.5 billion has been handed out.

The envoys' visit coincides with the Obama administration's review of U.S. policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The administration has been reaching out to allies for help on ways to combat growing violence that has spread throughout Afghanistan over the last three years.

Last month, President Barack Obama ordered 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan to bolster the 38,000 American military forces already there.

The envoys' trip to Washington was the result of a meeting last month between Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso and Obama.

Ogata said improved security is crucial for the work of the 50 to 70 Japanese officials and other foreigners trying to help Afghans.

The Japanese envoys also said Holbrooke accepted an invitation to attend an international donors conference for Pakistan to be held in Tokyo in mid April.

Copyright © 2009 the International Herald Tribune