AFP - Top envoys from Afghanistan, neighbouring nations and the world's great powers agreed Sunday at a Paris meeting boycotted by Iran to work more closely to try to restore stability in the war-torn state. They agreed "that there can be no long-term security and peace in the region without a stable, secure, prosperous and democratic Afghanistan," according to a statement released at the end of the one-day conference.

The envoys "expressed their support for existing initiatives to reinforce cooperation between Afghanistan and its neighbours (and) committed to the effective implementation of these initiatives."

But, apart from a vague agreement "to work more closely to strengthen border security as a key component of counter-narcotics and counter-terrorism," no concrete measures were announced at the meeting.

The conference got off to a bad start when Manouchehr Mottaki, the foreign minister of Iran, one of Afghanistan's most powerful neighbours, failed to turn up, as did the Iranian ambassador to France.

No official reason was given for the no-show.

But it came at the end of a week that saw French-Iranian relations strained after Tehran summoned the French ambassador to protest about remarks by President Nicolas Sarkozy condemning Iran's threats against Israel.

The Paris conference was aimed at finding ways to bring Afghanistan out of its seemingly endless state of war, and to urge neighbouring states, in particular Pakistan and Iran, to play a more positive role.

Pakistan has been accused of not doing enough to prevent cross-border operations by Taliban insurgents. In recent weeks NATO convoys and even their supply depots have been attacked within Pakistan itself.

The conference hosts want to involve more Afghans in work to stabilise the country, where 70,000 foreign troops under NATO and US command are battling the resurgent Taliban and extremist forces for control.

Since the US intervention in 2001, in which air strikes and special forces helped Afghan opposition troops overthrow the Taliban regime, the country has fallen back into the guerrilla conflict that so marred its recent history.

Many of the Taliban and extremist groups fighting against foreign and Afghan troops in the south and east of the country have rear bases in Pakistan, and US officials have also accused Iran of shipping arms to some groups.

French officials had played down expectations of rapid progress at the Paris meeting, noting that little new in the way of policy can be decided while the world waits for US president-elect Barack Obama to take office on January 20.

During the campaign, Obama argued that as the United States scaled back its presence in Iraq more troops could be moved to the frontline in Afghanistan, but his wider political policy has not yet been revealed.

The envoys held a full day of closed-door talks at French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner's official out-of-town residence at La Celle-Saint-Cloud in the leafy western suburbs of Paris.

Despite Iran's decision to stay away, Afghanistan and its other immediate neighbours China, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan were represented at the gathering.

Representatives of regional power India and UN Security Council heavyweights Britain, Russia and the United States also attended.

As G8 members with troops in Afghanistan, Italy and Germany were also present, as was UN Afghanistan envoy Kai Eide, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and external affairs commissioner Benita Ferrero-Walder.

The group was due to dine later Sunday at the foreign ministry, joined by representatives of Australia, the Netherlands, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.