AUSTRALIA is among the first countries to donate towards a new fund designed to encourage the Taliban to lay down their guns in Afghanistan, pledging $25 million.
Plans for the $US500 million ($560 million) reintegration and peace fund were unveiled as world leaders and foreign ministers from 70 countries attended a one-day conference on Afghanistan's future in London.
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith pledged $25 million as part of an extra $100 million Australia will pour into a range of Afghan projects from mine clearing to reconstruction.
Australia's donation to the fund was part of $US140 million ($157 million) worth of pledges made at the conference, which also agreed Afghanistan should take more control of its own security from the end of 2010.
The fund was set up by the Afghan government, which hopes to attract $US500 million worth of donations so it can offer money and jobs to entice moderate Taliban members to stop fighting Allied troops in the war-torn country and rejoin mainstream society.
Conference delegates, including Mr Smith, have demanded they play a part in ensuring the fund is subject to strict financial rules so it is not mismanaged.
Mr Smith denied the fund was designed to effectively bribe the Taliban into giving up their guns.
"It's not about buying them off," he said. "It's about showing to the people of Afghanistan that there is a qualitative difference between a hard-core international terrorist associated with al-Qaeda and a person who wants to partake in Afghanistan society fully ... who eschews violence and who wants to get on with making a better country and a better life for his family.
"We know there are very many people who fight with and support the Taliban who are not international global terrorists, who are not involved in a global jihad but they see no other role for themselves.
"That's why they need to be provided with employment opportunities, they need to be provided with a long-term secure future, they need to be provided with the health and education services that a nation state can provide."
On top of the $25 million donation, Australia will tip another $50 million into the existing Afghanistan reconstruction trust fund and provide $20 million for mine clearance programs.
It will also give $4 million to Asia Foundation programs to support the Afghan Ministry of Agriculture and $1 million to the Afghan Human Rights Commission for projects in Oruzgan province.
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