June 09, 2008	Monday	Jamadi-us-Sani 04, 1429

BAMIYAN, June 8: US First Lady Laura Bush, on an unannounced visit to Afghanistan on Sunday, appealed to the international community not to abandon the country in the face of resurgent Taliban violence.

She arrived under tight security for an 8-1/2-hour visit to a country that her husband, President George W. Bush, has declared a main front in the battle against Islamist militants.

Mrs. Bush, on her third trip to the country, said it was a chance to highlight signs of reconstruction and improved women’s rights since US-led forces ousted the Taliban in 2001.

Another important element of her mission was to try to shore up international commitment to the country as Afghan, US and Nato forces struggle to contain a Taliban guerrilla war.

“We don’t need to be intimidated by them,” Mrs. Bush told reporters on her plane heading for the Afghan capital, Kabul.

“The international community can’t drop Afghanistan now at this very crucial time.”

It was important that Afghans understood “the rest of the world is with you and that we’re not going to leave you right now when the Taliban and al Qaeda is trying to intimidate you”, she said.

She said she hoped her visit would help her make the case at an Afghan donors conference in Paris next week that the international community should maintain support for Afghanistan.

—Reuters