The secretary general of NATO said Thursday that alliance forces should begin handing responsibility to Afghan forces in a coordinated way next year in areas where conditions permit, AP reported. Anders Fogh Rasmussen issued a statement after talks in London with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The talks come as President Barack Obama weighs a decision on sending more troops to Afghanistan _ though alliance nations have been reluctant to commit more troops. The NATO chief and Brown agree that transition to Afghan leadership is the way forward. «We can and should start next year to hand lead responsibility to Afghan forces in a coordinated way through NATO where conditions permit,» Fogh Rasmussen said in the statement. Brown, echoed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, said this week that handovers in the volatile southern province of Helmand could begin as early as June. Most of Britain"s 9,000 troops are based in Helmand. But criticism is mounting that the Afghan government is too corrupt and inept to facilitate such handovers. Obama has said he won"t accept any of the Afghanistan war options before him without changes. His own ambassador in Afghanistan, Karl Eikenberry, sent a strongly worded cable warning against bolstering the American presence in Afghanistan unless corruption within the Afghan government is addressed. -- SPA
