PARIS, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- The leaders of Britain, France and Germany have called on the United Nations to hold a new international conference on the future of Afghanistan, the Elysee Palace said on Wednesday.

    In a joint letter to the UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for a meeting to discuss the progress in Afghanistan.

    "We should agree on new benchmarks and timelines in order to formulate a joint framework for our transition phase in Afghanistan, i.e. to set our expectations of ownership and the clear view to hand over responsibility step by step to the Afghans, wherever possible," said the letter.

    The three leaders also called in the letter to "set new prospects and goals" in the region on governance, law, human rights as well as security, economic and social development.

    Britain, France and Germany all have troops serving in the international coalition in Afghanistan.