Afghan president calls for help in fight against terror

Afghan President Hamid Karzai warned Wednesday that there would be no hope for peace without help from its neighbors to fight "terror groups". "Terrorist networks are by far the major threat to Afghanistan' s security," Karzai said at an international conference in Istanbul aimed at mapping out his country's future. Addressing the summit, Assistant Foreign Minister of China Liu Zhenmin called on the international community to extend continued support and assistance to Afganistan and reiterated China's steadfast support for the country's reconstruction process. Liu said as the rotating chair of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, China welcomes Afghanistan to participate in the group's activities. "We are ready to conduct closer cooperation with other parties at the SCO in such security areas as drug control, counter- terrorism and border management," he said. Representatives from 29 countries and aid agencies attend the Istanbul gathering, being held almost 10 years after the Taliban militia were driven out of power in Kabul. The Istanbul summit is intended to chart the way ahead for Afghanistan, with the NATO mission already locked into military drawdowns that are scheduled to bring all foreign combat troops home by 2014.