January 31, 2006	Tuesday	Muharram 1, 1427

LONDON, Jan 30: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice headed into talks on Monday with Afghan President Hamid Karzai ahead of an international donors’ conference aimed at preventing his country sliding back to chaos.

Ms Rice’s meeting here with Mr Karzai compensates for her brief participation in the London conference, where she will appear early on Tuesday before heading back for President George Bush’s annual State of the Union speech.

At the talks, to be attended by some 70 countries and organisations, the US government is expected to announce a major financial contribution for the next fiscal year.

“No one can afford to see a destabilised Afghanistan,” UN chief Kofi Annan warned after a brief, unscheduled meeting with Prime Minister Peter Balkenende of the Netherlands.—AFP