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.
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