NATO General-Secretary Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has renewed his call for an "international coordinator" to be appointed to oversee operations in Afghanistan in remarks published Saturday, according to dpa. Speaking ahead of a visit to Berlin on Thursday, the NATO head once again urged Germany and other countries to allow greater flexibility in the deployment of their troop contingents. De Hoop Scheffer told Der Spiegel magazine that the north and west of the country were "relatively stable," although he acknowledged difficulties in the south. Referring to a remark by President Hamid Karzai, that the security situation had deteriorated, De Hoop Scheffer said: "In general I am not as pessimistic as President Karzai." Asked about a lack of coordination among the many organizations operating in Kabul, including the United Nations, the European Union, NATO, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and others, the NATO head renewed his call for "an international coordinator with real political clout."
