MOSCOW, March 26, SPA -- Russia's foreign minister says that aninternational conference on Afghanistan hosted by Moscowwill help stabilize the country, AP reported. Sergey Lavrov said Thursday that the conference shouldimprove coordination of global efforts to combat terrorismand drug-trafficking in Afghanistan. Friday's conference will be attended by United NationsSecretary-General Ban Ki-moon and senior officials from theUnited States, the European Union, NATO and otherinternational organizations. The conference is organized by the Shanghai CooperationOrganization, which includes Russia, China and theex-Soviet Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan,Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. --SPA www.spa.gov.sa/648137