International forces should not expect to withdraw from Afghanistan in the near future, Nato Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said today, days after the launch of a new US strategy for the country.
"In my opinion, it is necessary to stay in Afghanistan for the foreseeable future," he told reporters in Brussels, saying he had so far seen "positive reactions" to US president Barack Obama's announcement last week.
Mr Obama set no timetable for a revamped strategy to quell a growing insurgency but shifted the focus towards training Afghanistan's own security forces, and said the United States would not "blindly stay the course".
Mr de Hoop Scheffer welcomed the plan to concentrate on defeating al Qaeda militants rather than pursuing the Bush administration's more ambitious aim of building democracy.
"I think the Obama plan is realistic about what can be achieved ... That means we will not be able to change Afghanistan into Switzerland in a few years' time," he said.
Mr Obama will hold talks this week with Nato allies on a plan that envisages sending 4,000 US troops to train Afghan forces on top of a previously announced reinforcement of 17,000 extra US troops for the war effort.
That will bring the total of US forces in Afghanistan to 55,000 compared with 32,000 from remaining Nato members and other countries involved in military operations, leading some analysts to say the alliance could be increasingly sidelined.
Mr de Hoop Scheffer insisted that must not happen and called on the 26-member military pact to play a full role in the effort.
"This is not President Obama's war in the NatoO sense. The allies need to do their part. I would not like to see a mission that is out of balance in this regard," he said.
Meanwhile, US secretary of state Hillary Clinton was en route to the Hague today seeking support for Washington's new war strategy in Afghanistan.
Ms Clinton will also have her first contact with Iran on the sidelines of a conference on Afghanistan in the Netherlands. US officials said Ms Clinton did not plan "substantive" talks with Iran but she hoped Tehran's presence there would be helpful and could set a good tone for future engagement.
"We hope they will sit down with us all at the table and that the Iranians will come ready, willing and able to help Afghanistan and Pakistan," said State Department spokesman Robert Wood, who is traveling with Ms Clinton to the Hague.
"We want them to play a positive role," he told Reuters.
The White House said it would like specifically to see Tehran's help in fighting drug trafficking from Afghanistan, pointing to problems with heroin abuse in Iran.
Ms Clinton proposed tomorrow's one-day conference in the Hague, held under UN and Dutch auspices, and said Iran should be there along with delegates expected from over 80 nations.
She sees the conference as an opportunity to win global support for the Obama administration's new strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan, which was announced last Friday.
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US president Barack Obama's goal is to crush al Qaeda militants in Afghanistan and Pakistan and adopt a more regional approach to the conflict by involving neighbors such as Iran, as well as players India, China and Russia.
The United States also plans to send 4,000 more troops to train the Afghan army, along with hundreds of civilians to improve the delivery of basic services. This is in addition to 17,000 combat troops being added to Afghanistan before August elections.
Mr Wood said Clinton was not going to the Hague armed with a "shopping list," but others must do more and could offer practical help with equipment, transportation, training for Afghanistan's police force and reconstruction projects.
Former US envoy to Afghanistan, James Dobbins, said he expected European countries could match US offers in terms of economic resources and civilian personnel.
Reuters