LOC12:59
09:59 GMT
BRUSSELS, April 18 (KUNA) - NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen
Wednesday said the Alliance will continue to support the Afghan Security
Forces beyond 2014 but only as a training mission.
"I don't foresee a combat role after 2014 but we will continue a training
mission," he told journalists ahead of a joint meeting of NATO foreign and
defence ministers here today.
Rasmussen said he is "not at all concerned" that the announcement by
Australia yesterday to pull out its troops from Afghanistan by 2013 could
trigger a rush by other countries to withdraw troops from the country before
2014.
"The Australian announcement is fully within the framework of the roadmap
that we have outlined for a gradual transition to a lead Afghan responsibility,
" he said.
Rasmussen said that at the NATO summit in Chicago in May, "we will chart
the course for our future engagement in Afghanistan. Today and tomorrow,
Allies and partners are here to shape the Chicago decisions on Afghanistan."
"A few days ago, we saw several coordinated attacks in Kabul and
elsewhere. But the attacks failed. The enemies of Afghanistan were defeated
by the Afghan security forces," he said.
The NATO chief said he expect that at the Chicago summit "we will declare
an interim missile defence capability, as a first step towards our long-term
goal of providing missile defence for NATO's European populations, territory
and forces."
"In Chicago, we will celebrate the vital link between America and Europe.
And we will continue to invest in this transatlantic link, which remains as
critical to our security in the future, as it has been in the past," he added.
(end)
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KUNA 181259 Apr 12NNNN