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NATO to launch new comprehensive strategy for Afghanistan
Published in Saudi Press Agency on 06 - 03 - 2008


NATO is to launch a comprehensive strategy for
Afghanistan aimed at bridging longstanding divisions within the
alliance, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner confirmed
Thursday. "A strategy is necessary," he said, according to dpa.
The four-point plan combines the demands by some allies to focus
on fighting the Taliban and the desire by others to do more on the
reconstruction and nation-building side.
Kouchner said it would foresee "a common determination of the
allies to stay engaged in Afghanistan for the long term",
reconstruction, "clear prospects for a gradual handover to the Afghan
authorities at all levels" and "a politically-shared strategy for
Afghanistan", Kouchner said.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also confirmed plans for a
new strategy at an informal meeting of NATO foreign ministers in
Brussels.
Such a plan, which has been in the pipeline for some time, was
expected to be launched at NATO's April 2-4 summit in Bucharest,
officials said.
American, British, Dutch and Canadian soldiers have been left to
face the brunt of the fighting against the Taliban in Afghanistan's
volatile south amid reluctance from some allies to send their troops
there.
Germany in particular has been unwilling to commit its troops to
the south, preferring instead to deploy its soldiers in the more
peaceful north.
The US has repeatedly called on its allies to send more troops
while Canada has threatened to pull its 2,500 troops out of the
dangerous Kandahar region unless other NATO members send substantial
reinforcements.
But Rice sought to play down such divisions on Thursday.
"Germany, like others, is contributing to the efforts and that is
greatly appreciated," Rice said.
However, she stressed that defeating terrorism and the Taliban
remained a priority.
"What we have to be able to do is to make certain that we can
fulfil every requirement. We cannot just fulfil the requirements that
have to do with reconstruction, governance and the rule of law," she
said.
"We have to win against the insurgents, we have to help the
Afghans, train the army, and it is a shared view that we need more
help in that regard," she added.
NATO's ISAF mission in Afghanistan can count on about 40,000
soldiers, most of whom are American.


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