July 03, 2007	Tuesday	Jamadi-us-Sani 17, 1428

ROME: A two-day global meet on the state of law in war-battered Afghanistan opened in Rome on Monday, due to be attended by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, UN chief Ban Ki-moon and Nato head Jaap De Hoop Scheffer.

More than 20 delegations attended the UN-sponsored talks, including representatives from the World Bank, the European Union, the United States, Italy and Afghanistan. The parleys began at 1300 GMT at the building housing the Italian foreign ministry.

Karzai and Ban are due to address the conference on Tuesday.

Afghanistan's judicial system is in tatters after almost three decades of war and conflict. Nearly six years after the fall of the extremist Taliban government, it is corrupt, overburdened and under-resourced, and internationally backed efforts to reform the sector have dragged.

“The conference aims at reaffirming commitments of the Afghan government and the international community in accelerating the judicial reform process and the rule of law, which are basic pillars for the reconstruction of Afghanistan,” an Afghan statement said.

—AFP