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Lisbon: Nato leaders endorse Afghanistan 2014 withdrawal date
Nato leaders have endorsed on Saturday a plan to start handing Afghan forces command of the war next year with the aim of ceding full control by 2014"We have launched the process by which the Afghan people will once again become masters in their own house," Nato secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen told a news conference following a summit of Allied leaders in Lisbon. Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, signed the plan along with Mr Rasmussen and Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary general. Earlier alliance leader suggested that Natos plan to wind down its combat mission was not set in stone, casting doubt on David Camerons fixed deadline for a British withdrawal. Despite Western leaders eagerness to leave Afghanistan, the Nato timetable remains conditional, dependent on the ability of the Kabul government to secure the country against the Taliban. The Obama administration made clear that 2014 was only an aspirational goal and Natos secretary-general warned the West must remain committed in Afghanistan as long as it takes. A senior Nato official also warned of inevitable setbacks in the work to complete transition by the end of 2014. Posted by: tipper 2010-11-20 |
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