Hazara Nation

U.S. first lady Laura Bush announced here Sunday the United States would provide 40 million U.S. dollars to the field of education in Afghanistan.

Mrs. Bush, who made a surprise visit to the war-torn country on Sunday, said at a news briefing here that this sum of money would be provided over the next five years, adding the contribution would further enable Afghans to go to school and learn skills.

A portion of the amount would go to the Kabul-based American University of Afghanistan where 300 students are currently studying in the fields of business, information technology and computer science, the U.S. first lady said.
"The United States is proud to support 16 universities in Afghanistan including the American University of Afghanistan," she said.

Laura Bush, who earlier Sunday visited Afghanistan's central province of Bamyan, also called on Afghan President Hamid Karzai and exchanged views on matters pertaining mutual interests including the coming donors' conference in Paris.

Both Karzai and Mrs. Bush would be attending the conference, which will open on June 12 and where Afghanistan's achievement over the past six years and the Afghan government's national strategy for development would be discussed and evaluated.