Afghan leader on UK visit

Karzai and Laura Bush talk during the State of the Union address

LONDON, England -- Afghanistan's interim leader Hamid Karzai is to have talks in Downing Street with British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Thursday.

The Afghan leader is visiting London on his way home from a visit to Washington, where he met U.S. President George W. Bush and sat in a VIP box with U.S. First Lady Laura Bush during the State of the Union address.

He also visited Ground Zero at the World Trade Center in New York, and gave a speech to the United Nations Security Council.

Karzai will have talks with Blair on Thursday morning, followed by lunch in Downing Street.

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Blair is expected to confirm British help for training Afghanistan's army, and repeat his pledge that the West will not "walk away" from the country after Operation Enduring Freedom.

It will be the second meeting between the two since the war against terror began and since Karzai became Afghan leader.

The two met in Afghanistan earlier this month, when Blair stopped briefly at the Bagram air base during a trip to the region, becoming the first Western leader to visit Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban. Blair told Karzai and British troops at the airbase that the alliance had learnt not to abandon Afghanistan.

"Afghanistan has been a failed state for too long and the whole world has paid the price -- in the export of terror, the export of drugs and finally in the explosion in death and destruction on the streets of the U.S.," he said.

He added: "I think we can realise just how important it is that the international community, having made its commitment to sorting out Afghanistan in the interest of defeating international terrorism, continues that commitment in order to help Afghanistan back on its feet, stop being a failed state and be a reliable partner in this region.

"That is what all the countries in the region want and it is what the international community needs."

The UK is to command the international peacekeeping force which is to be deployed in the Afghan capital and already has some special forces in the country.

During an address to the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday, Karzai called for an extension and expansion of the mandate of multinational security forces in Afghanistan.

He added that Afghanistan is intent on establishing "the national institutions" that would ensure the security of Afghans.

"The extension of presence of multinational forces in Kabul and expanding their presence to other major cities will signal the ongoing commitment of international community to peace and security in Afghanistan," he said.