UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 15 (Xinhuanet) -- The United Nations Security Council reaffirmed on Thursday to help complete Afghanistan's peace process in continuing cooperation with the Afghan transitional government.

    The council made the promise in a statement issued after hearing a final briefing by the outgoing UN special representative for Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi.

    Meanwhile, the council stressed that the responsibility for providing security and law and order throughout the Central Asian country resides with the Afghans themselves.

    The creation of a secure environment and the provision of sufficient funding remain important conditions for national elections mandated by the Bonn peace agreement, the 15-nation council emphasized.

    "Credible countryside elections in 2004 as well as the reconstruction and development in all parts of Afghanistan will be essential for the lasting stabilization of Afghanistan," it added.

    In his opening address to the council's open meeting, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan reiterated his call for Afghans to improve the fragile security in their country.

    Currently, a multinational peacekeeping force numbering more than 5,500 is stationed in the Afghan capital of Kabul. The NATO-led force is prepared to expand its operation zone beyond Kabul to other major cities, but the process has not yet begun.

    Loyalists of the former Taliban regime launched attacks against civilians and international workers from time to time, in a bid to disrupt the peace process. The Taliban, accused of harboring Osamabin Laden, was ousted by a US-led invasion in early 2002. Enditem