Blair is in Afghanistan

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has said that British troops will stay in Afghanistan until their job is done.

Mr Blair held talks with the Afghan President Hamit Karzai in Kabul.

Addressing President Hamid Karzai in a joint press conference in the capital Kabul, Mr Blair praised the Afghan president for the "remarkable progress" made there.

He said that there had been economic growth over several years and a lot of reconstruction and development was under way.

He said the UK would help the country to meet challenges of security, reconstruction and development.

President Karzai said progress had been made with 4.5 million refugees returning to Afghanistan in less than four years.

He said the country's economy and the health service had also improved but acknowledged that the opium harvest had increased in some parts of the country.

He stressed that it was important to end the trade because it threatened future security and economic prospects and had made addiction a major concern in the country.

Earlier, Mr Blair met 800 British servicemen and women at Camp Bastion in Helmand province to thank them for the job they were doing.

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