Foreign ministers from the Group of Eight industrialized nations on Saturday agreed to boost cooperation in stabilizing Afghanistan and solving Iran's post-election crisis.

Afghan foreign minister and officials from other Asian and Mideast nations, also took part in the meeting, the last G8 ministerial gathering before the final July round-up summit in L'Aquila.

The G8 foreign ministers said in a statement that they were "firmly committed" to supporting Afghanistan and Pakistan as "they confront grave security, humanitarian, counter-narcotics, terrorism and economic challenges".

With just two months to go before the presidential election on August 20, Afghanistan is facing the strongest Taliban insurgency since 2001. The foreign ministers agreed to increase international support for President Hamid Karzai's efforts of national reconciliation.

"It's important to recover to legality the Talibans not affiliated to al-Qaida," said Frattini. Karzai's aim is to make them participate in the presidential elections.

The United States and its European allies have pledged thousands of extra troops to ensure security on the polling day and are providing funds for the vote.

U.S. President Barack Obama has centered his foreign policy agenda on Afghanistan's stabilization and on the ultimate defeat of al-Qaida.

The foreign ministers called on relevant international organizations such as the NATO and the UN to provide logistic, technical and financial support for the elections in Afghanistan.

The final goal, said the statement, is to ensure "safe, credible and transparent elections" in Afghanistan.

A greater coordination in humanitarian aid to the country is needed, especially in the fields of education and health, it said.

The ministers urged more cooperation in ensuring security in Afghanistan through cracking down on drug and human trafficking and enhanced border control. Drug profits nourish terrorist organizations, they said.

The United States is increasing efforts to destroy poppy crops in Afghanistan, which produce more than 90 percent of the world's opium. Most of

it is then converted into heroin and trafficked to Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia.

Iran's post-election crisis is another focus of the meeting. The G8 countries have different opinions on the political disputes in the country after its controversial presidential election.

France and Italy stood for stronger wording against Tehran in their final statement, but Russia called for caution.

The ministers also expressed concerns over Iran's nuclear program and called on Tehran to "give diplomacy a chance to find a negotiated solution to the nuclear issue."

Although invited, Iran did not attend the Trieste meeting.

Source:Xinhua