Representatives from 70 states are meeting in Afghanistan for their largest aid meeting for three decades.

In his opening speech Afghan leader Hamid Karzai reiterated his call for the country to control its own security by 2014.

"This is the first conference where the Afghans have made the plans," Foreign Secretary William Hague told the Today programme.

"It is possible for them to be able to run the country."

Mr Hague acknowledged that Afghanistan had been "one of the most corrupt countries in the world," but insisted that the Afghan government had to be the ones to deal with it.

He told John Humphrys that if coalition forces pulled out, there would be a "serious risk" of terrorist bases returning to the country and allowing terrorists to "plot terror" against the UK.

"That is why our troops are here, in a nutshell. We wish we didn't have to do that," he said.

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