At the close of its annual meeting in Oslo Wednesday, the Afghanistan Support Group handed over the primary responsibility for coordinating assistance and reconstruction to the Afghan Transitional Administration.

"I am pleased to see that the Afghan government is now prepared to assume responsibility for all important aspects of the reconstruction process. This means that the Afghanistan Support Group is superfluous and can now discontinue its activities," said Foreign Minister Jan Petersen.

Norway has held the chairmanship of the ASG in 2002.

At the end of the meeting, Afghan Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani said that a total of USD 2 billion had been pledged for 2003.

This includes direct support to the authorities as well as assistance channelled through the UN and other international organizations. The figures refer to both humanitarian and long-term assistance.