Washington - The United States on Monday welcomed an Afghan Supreme Court ruling extending President Hamid Karzai's term until an election in August.

The court ruled Sunday that Karzai should stay in power after his term ends May 22, until the elections are held.

"The United States strongly supports and welcomes this ruling," said State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid. "We believe that the continuity of government in this critical period before elections is vital and contributes to creating stability."

The Hague  - United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Afghan President Hamid Karzai were on Monday due to arrive in the Netherlands ahead of an international conference Tuesday to discuss the future of war-torn Afghanistan.

Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende was due to welcome the two at a special reception in The Hague. He was also scheduled to hold talks with US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton before delivering his opening speech at the conference on Tuesday.

Kabul - The main opposition party in Afghanistan warned Monday that the decision by the Supreme Court to extend President Hamid Karzai's term until an election in August would lead the war-torn country to "political crisis and instability."

The country's high court ruled Sunday that Karzai should stay in power after his term ends May 22 until the elections are held August 20.

Kabul - A suicide bomber detonated his explosive-filled vest inside a district headquarter in southern Afghanistan on Monday, killing eight people including police and civilians and wounded six others, a government spokesman said.

The bomber carried out the attack inside the Dand district in southern Kandahar province on Monday morning, killing three policemen and five civilians, provincial spokesman Zelmai Ayoubi said.

He said six others were wounded in the attack that he held the Taliban-led insurgents responsible for.

Peshawar, Pakistan - Pakistan's government stopped 16 months of fighting and brought relative calm to Swat, a scenic valley just an hour north of Islamabad, by cutting a truce with Taliban militants, a development it promotes as a model to deal with the Islamic insurgency in the entire region.

However, the price paid for peace may be too high and likely to discourage Western governments from making similar deals in Afghanistan.

Kabul - About midnight on a calm spring night, Toor Jan awoke to a sudden jolt and a loud, deafening blast. He stumbled out of his bed and rushed outside to find out what happened, but his eyes saw only flames and thick dust.

It did not take him long to realize that the catastrophe was not caused by thunder or an earthquake, but by a bomb dropped from a NATO military airplane.

Jan's brother, his mother, his young daughter and his three nephews were killed in a NATO airstrike that hit their home in Nad Ali district of southern Helmand province in the late spring of 2008.