Afghanistan's president Hamid Karzai has arrived in Camp David for what has been billed by experts as a "strategy session" with US president George W. Bush. On the agenda: the struggling, six-year effort to rebuild the war-torn country, and the efforts to defuse the threat from Taliban and al-Qaeda militants. A report from US spy agencies last month found both groups were training new recruits in the Waziristan region of Pakistan, near the Afghan border.

The more immediate crisis of trying to free the remaining 21 South Korean hostages seized by the Taliban last month will also dominate the talks. Seoul is pressuring the US and Afghanistan to do all they can to secure the group's release. Analysts say Bush will want to reassure Karzai of US commitment to his country. Washington has already allocated ten billion dollars for Afghanistan this year, and has also boosted troop levels.