Japan to Pay Afghan Police Salaries

Washington, March 9 (Jiji Press)--Japan will provide 124 million
dollars to pay salaries of Afghan police, special envoy Sadako Ogata said
Monday.

Ogata, Tokyo's special envoy on Afghanistan and Pakistan, unveiled
the plan at a meeting here with her U.S. counterpart Richard Holbrooke.
The aid is worth six-month salaries of 80,000 Afghan police
officers, Ogata, president of the Japan International Cooperation Agency,
said at a news conference after the meeting.
At the meeting, Ogata and Holbrooke agreed that a regional
approach, including cooperation with Pakistan, is necessary to ensure
stability in Afghanistan.
Holbrooke expressed his readiness to attend an international
meeting on aid to Pakistan, which will be held in Japan in mid-April.
He also said a U.S.-proposed meeting on Afghan aid will be held in
the Netherlands on March 31.