Brown Seeks London Summit to Discuss Afghan Handover

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http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601091&sid=a0yDsaUCv7I0

U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he wants to host a meeting in January in London aimed at laying out a plan for handing back authority over Afghanistan’s provinces to President Hamid Karzai’s government.

The gathering would seek a “political framework” allowing Western nations to scale down their military commitment to some areas of Afghanistan as early as next year, Brown said in a speech in London late yesterday.

Brown, facing an election by June and dwindling support for the war at home, is under pressure to map out an exit strategy. His remarks were the clearest sign yet that the U.K. government is working on timetable for a pullout even as it considers adding to the 9,000 soldiers it already has fighting there.

“The international community will meet to agree plans for the support we will provide to Afghanistan during this next phase,” Brown said.