Miliband and Clinton meet for Afghan talks
David Miliband and Hilary Clinton meet to discuss ongoing military campaign in Afghanistan
Also In The News
|
By Darren Estwick. |  |
Sunday, 11, Oct 2009 12:30
By Richard James.
Foreign secretary David Miliband will meet US secretary of state Hilary Clinton later today as the former first lady embarks on a whirlwind tour of Europe.
Afghanistan is expected to dominate the talks between the pair with public opinion in both Britain and the United States beginning to turn against the ongoing military conflict.
The war against the Taliban appears to have entered a crucial stage after eight years of fighting with this summer's much-heralded national elections completely overshadowed by allegations of election fraud.
Opinion polls have shown that with an ever-increasing death toll of British and American troops, the general public are questioning the effectiveness of the current military agenda and the actual progress being made in Afghanistan.
Both US president Barack Obama and Gordon Brown have come under pressure from their military chiefs to pledge more troops. However, neither has yet to categorically promise more troops will be deployed to Afghanistan.
As well as meeting the foreign secretary today, Mrs Clinton is also expected to meet with Mr Brown.
Also on her trip to Europe, the US secretary of state is due to meet with Russian president Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday when she is expected to call for tougher sanctions on Iran.
During the recent G20 summit in Pittsburgh Mr Medvedev appeared to admit strict sanctions may be needed against Tehran if it continued with its alleged nuclear programme.