Forum Views ()
Forum Replies ()
Read more with google mobile :
NATO irons out plan for Afghan civil, military handover
Yahoo!
My Yahoo!
Mail
More Yahoo! Services
Account Options
New User? Sign Up
Sign In
Help
Yahoo! Search
web search
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Australia
China
India
Indonesia
Japan
Malaysia
Philippines
Thailand
Vietnam
NATO irons out plan for Afghan civil, military handover
AFP - Saturday, April 24
Send
IM Story
Print
TALLINN (AFP) - – NATO foreign ministers sealed Friday a plan for international troops and civilian staff in Afghanistan to hand over responsibility to the local military and government.
In talks in Tallinn, Estonia, the ministers endorsed guidelines for passing control to the Afghans as NATO and US-led forces drive Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters out of provinces across the insurgency-hit country.
"We agreed the approach we will take to transition. We set out a process, the conditions that will have to be met, and what we will do to make those conditions happen," NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said.
"Where it occurs, transition must not just be sustainable but irreversible," he told reporters after the meeting.
But he underlined: "It will not be a run for the exit."
"We will hand over responsibility to the Afghan security forces and then our soldiers will play a supporting role," he said.
NATO leads a force of some 90,000 troops drawn from more than 40 nations, but it has struggled to defeat the insurgency.
Washington has ordered the deployment of 30,000 new US troops. Other allies have bolstered their contingents over recent months, but NATO is pressing for 450 more trainers to build up the Afghan army and police.
Asked why it was so difficult to get other NATO members to come up with the numbers when so many new US troops were set to hit the ground, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters said she was in fact "heartened" by allies' response.
"We have a relatively small gap that we're still working to fill. So I'm very convinced we will get that filled and we will have met all of the numerical requirements in our efforts," she added.
"This is not just a question of numbers, this is a question of commitment, the quality of commitment, the understanding of the mission," she cautioned.
"For me the glass is way more than half full in terms of what we asked for, what we need and what we have received," she added.
NATO sees a shift as hinging on Afghans being able to provide their own security, but as casualties rise international forces are under growing pressure in Afghanistan and at home to leave.
"As of today, we have a roadmap that will lead towards transition to Afghan lead starting this year, at which point our publics will start to see the progress for which they have been quite rightly been asking," Rasmussen said.
He said he hoped that the Afghan government and the international community would endorse the plan at a conference in Kabul in mid-July, with the whole process being launched by November, when NATO holds its next summit.
Mark Sedwill, NATO's senior civilian representative in Afghanistan, explained that the plan would apply to regions where the Afghans have "the capability to take the leading role and we move into a supporting role."
He said the shift could mainly concern provinces along a line running northwest from Nimroz to the Khyber Pass.
"Gradually, as the transition goes through, you would expect them to build up and us to draw down," stepping back from combat operations, he told reporters.
The transition also lays out a political framework for security, which NATO and its partners would then clear with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, a source close to the talks said.
In announcing his revamped strategy for Afghanistan in December, US President Barack Obama ordered the deployment of the 30,000 new troops to the war-torn country and named July 2011 as the date for their drawdown to begin.
But he has repeated that the speed of the US drawdown and departure from Afghanistan of US and allied troops would be dictated by how successful they were in stabilising the country.
International troops have been in Afghanistan since late 2001, when a US-led coalition ousted its hardline Islamist Taliban regime.
Recommend
Send
IM Story
Print
Related Articles
Thai protesters, army make tentative peace overtures AFP - 39 minutes ago
EU to urge Myanmar junta to accept pre-election mission AFP - 1 hour 54 minutes ago
Thailand turmoil shuts down scores of businesses AP - 2 hours 18 minutes ago
Australia, South Korea drawn together in Asian Cup AFP - 2 hours 28 minutes ago
Thai protesters want Parliament dissolved in month AP - Saturday, April 24
News Search
Top Stories
Greece pleads for debt aid, Germany sets conditions
Greek bailout looms in world finance meet
Ex-Bin Laden bodyguard writes against Qaeda
UN's 2015 poverty target in reach despite crisis: World Bank
US new home sales up sharply in March
More Top Stories »
Most Popular
Most Viewed
Most Recommended
Stars shine spotlight on the planet for Earth Day
Airlines want compensation as Europe's skies reopen
'Major oil spill' as rig sinks off US coast
At least 45 wounded in Bangkok blasts: hospital
Apple engineer loses iPhone prototype
More Most Viewed »
Apple engineer loses iPhone prototype
Two-million-year-old hominid sheds light on evolution
Taiwan's male 'Susan Boyle' a web sensation
Airlines want compensation as Europe's skies reopen
More Most Recommended »
Elsewhere on Yahoo!
Financial news on Yahoo! Finance
Stars and latest movies
Best travel destinations
More on Yahoo! News
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Subscribe to our news feeds
Top StoriesMy Yahoo!RSS
» More news feeds | What are news feeds?
Also on Yahoo
Answers
Groups
Mail
Messenger
Mobile
Travel
Finance
Movies
Sports
Games
» All Yahoo! Services
Site Highlights
Singapore
Full Coverage
Most Popular
Asia Entertainment
Photos
World Cup 2010
Copyright © 2010 Yahoo! Southeast Asia Pte. Ltd. (Co. Reg. No. 199700735D). All Rights Reserved.
Terms of Service |
Privacy Policy |
Community |
Intellectual Property Rights Policy |
Help
Other News on Saturday, 24 April 2010 58 dead as bombs sow mayhem in Iraq
Is political divorce on horizon for Berlusconi?
New York Times posts profit, says ready to take on WSJ
NATO irons out plan for Afghan civil, military handover
Ex-Bin Laden bodyguard writes against Qaeda
US-TECH Summary
Britain grows 0.2% in first quarter: official
Lenovo emerges as leading candidate for Palm: sources
UN's 2015 poverty target in reach despite crisis: World Bank
At least 50 dead in Baghdad attacks
Greek bailout looms in world finance meet
Deputies Find "Letter/Will" At Deerfiled Beach Attacker's Home
Bodies of plane crash victims returned to Poland
|
New Research Suggests '76 Swine Flu Immunization Protects Against 2009 H1N1 Virus
US new home sales up sharply in March
Honeywell Q1 Profits Dip, But Top Expectations
Greece pleads for debt aid, Germany sets conditions
Two Baltimore Teens Charged With Murder Of 72-Year-Old Guard
French driver fined for wearing niqab
|
New Homes Sales Surge In March, Top Forecasts
Pamela Anderson Reportedly Making Film About Sex Tapes
Iran withdraws bid for seat on UN rights council
|
Kristen Stewart Wanted For Sequel
Passengers Restrain Unruly Man On Airplane
Mali border guards on alert after Niger kidnappings
|
Forecasters: Severe Storms To Slam Southeast
Judge Taken Off Serial Killer Case
Thailand turmoil shuts down scores of businesses
Israel's Barak sees green light for talks soon
Australia, South Korea drawn together in Asian Cup
No crude oil leaking from Gulf well: US Coast Guard
Thai protesters want Parliament dissolved in month
Piracy rattles Japan to open first foreign military base
US rethinks small, remote bases in Afghanistan
China vows economic growth in restive Xinjiang
Sri Lanka president names first post-war cabinet
U.S. students suffering from Internet addiction: study
|
Commission proposes limited commercial whale hunts
Japan rejects China's excuse over naval fly-by
Lenovo emerges as leading candidate for Palm: sources
|
Toilet-less Kenyan Slum Dwellers Turn To PeePoo Bags For Relief
Not-So-Hot Women Preying On Older Men
Another star cancellation for Vienna's 'Carmen'
US-ENTERTAINMENT Summary
Enron on Broadway: tale of risk is itself risky
Japanese group gives health tips to 3D viewers
Circus reopens in Turkmenistan after decade-long ban
Allcomers brave Swiss Alps in legendary Glacier Patrol race
Ceausescu returns from grave in Romania documentary
After the quake, darkness for Haiti's painters
Rooftop farming booming in New York
Iraq Christians defy threats to erect Rio-like Jesus statue
India's Reliance announces net profit up 30%
Chinese automakers push to raise global profile
Enron on Broadway: tale of risk is itself risky
|
Taiwan ex-leader Lee Teng-hui warns against China trade pact
History gets adventure makeover for TV series
|
Luxury car makers target China's super-rich
China's Changan confirms Peugeot tie-up talks
Reliance Industries quarterly profit up 30 percent
Chinese automaker Chery signs football star Messi
Iran withdraws bid for seat on U.N. rights council
Furor over French Muslim woman fined for driving veiled
Rivals moving to take on iPad
S.Korea raises warship, finds clues on sinking
|
U.S. students suffering from Internet addiction: study
Two killed in south Sudan election clash
G20 hails global rebound, urges 'credible' exit strategies
Twitter buys Seattle startup, second purchase this month
Thai government considers red shirts compromise
|
Mitchell says U.S. wants Mideast solution soon
U.S. fears for well-being of Americans held by Iran
|
U.S. Markets Rise On Housing Data, Hit New Highs
Xerox Shares Jump On Q1 Results, Strong Forecast
U.N. worried about human rights in Western Sahara
|
Iran withdraws bid for seat on U.N. rights council
|
'Ten police injured' in Pakistan suicide strike
China replaces party boss in restive Xinjiang
Karabakh key to Turkish-Armenian peace
Correction: US-Iran-Nuclear story
China replaces party boss in region hit by unrest
10 policemen wounded in suicide attack in Pakistan
Guarded hope rises for peaceful end to Thai crisis
Melbourne Storm vow 'no surrender' after salary cap crisis
Salvage teams search wreck of South Korean warship
Thai government considers red shirts compromise
Thai rivals mull compromise offer to end crisis
Ariz. governor signs immigration enforcement bill
Condemned Utah killer will face firing squad
Toyota to show return to profit despite recalls: reports
Scouts ordered to pay $18.5M in sex abuse case
G20 hails better than expected economic rebound
NY man pleads guilty in plot to bomb NYC subway
Chinese automakers push to raise global profile
IMF board likely to meet mid-May on Pakistan
Britain teaches India about curries
Arizona illegals law sparks fury, Obama criticism
Nas, Damian Marley combine forces on album, tour
Second man pleads guilty in plot to bomb NY subway
Shelby Lynne plots own course with new album
Focus in Polanski case shifts back to Switzerland
Bret Michaels stable after brain hemorrhage
Spock finally beams into Vulcan
Cuban singer Carlos Varela set for U.S. tour
Woody Allen confirms details of new film
Long-running Archie Comics to get gay character
Bret Michaels stable after brain hemorrhage
|
Focus in Polanski case shifts back to Switzerland
|
Shelby Lynne plots own course with new album
|
Nas, Damian Marley combine forces on album, tour
|
Cuban singer Carlos Varela set for U.S. tour
|
Spock finally beams into Vulcan
|
Iraq govt says Sadr security help not needed
Armenians mark WWI killings, ties with neighbours fray
Anti-U.S. cleric offers Iraq government help after attacks
|
Luxury Mumbai attacks hotel reopens
Militants killed in Afghan raids: officials
Jailed Chilean cult leader Schaefer dies at 88
|
Yemen says rebels kidnap man, briefly hold Saudis
|
Suicide raid killed American soldier on Kabul base: U.S.
|
Most French want burqa law, but not total ban
|
Armenians mark WWI killings, ties with neighbors fray
|
China pledges to repair quake-damaged monasteries
China replaces party boss in region hit by unrest
UK Conservatives issue election stalemate warning
|
Thai protesters pull out of talks with government
Suicide attack killed American soldier, US says
Iran Guards dismiss sanctions drive as ridiculous
|
Suicide raid killed American soldier on Kabul base: U.S
Strong winds delay S. Korean climber's record bid
Thai protesters call off talks with government
Thai TV: Gov't nixes demand to disband Parliament
African Union leaders meet US national security adviser
Thai PM rejects protesters' compromise offer
SKorea hoists 2nd half of sunken warship from sea
Philippines, rebels reach election violence pact
ICICI Bank says quarterly profit up 35 percent
Microsoft, Google eye Arabic web growth potential
|
Strong quake hits Indonesia
Strong earthquake rattles eastern Indonesia island
Strong quake hits near Indonesia's North Mollucas
LCD Soundsystem raises glass to Drunk Girls
|
Gospel singer Clark-Sheard on road with new album
|
Filipina songbird Charice set to release U.S. debut
|
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights