New York - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will attend next week in Moscow a conference of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, called to discuss Afghanistan's growing threat to regional security, the UN said Thursday.

The Moscow conference on March 27 "will focus on the impact that the situation in Afghanistan is having on its neighbouring states," the UN said.

"It will also examine ways for states to jointly tackle threats emanating from Afghanistan, including terrorism, drug trafficking and organized crime," it said.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is a inter-governmental security organization that includes Central Asian countries, Russia and China.

Ban will also attend on March 31 the international conference on Afghanistan organized by the Dutch government at The Hague, which is a continuation of previous meetings held in Bonn and Paris "to take a comprehensive look at the current political, security and development issues being faced in Afghanistan and discuss upcoming policy choices."

Ban is scheduled to visit Doha, Qatar, following the conference in Moscow, to discuss the situation in the Middle East.

Following the conference at The Hague on Afghanistan March 31, he will attend on April 2 the G-20 Summit on the global financial crisis. (dpa)