Afghan President Hamid Karzai and US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton offered an olive branch yesterday to Taliban fighters who reject Al-Qaida and pressed an international conference for help in strengthening Afghanistan's security forces.

More than 80 of Afghanistan's neighboring states or military and financial donors were attending a one-day conference in The Hague to brainstorm about how to stabilize Afghanistan seven years after the expulsion of the Taliban government.

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Medhi Akhundzadeh was among the delegates - the first time the US and Iran have met at a conference table since President Barack Obama offered better relations with Teheran.