NATO: changes in Afghan schedule must be coordinated
Thu, 2 Feb 2012 11:16 GMT
BRUSSELS, Feb 2 (Reuters) - NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Thursday the alliance should stand by its previously agreed plan to wind down operations in Afghanistan by the end of 2014, with any changes to the schedule coordinated with allies.
Rasmussen spoke ahead of a meeting of NATO defence ministers in Brussels and was commenting on an announcement by the United States that it intends to end combat operations in Afghanistan before the end of next year.
NATO allies agreed at the end of 2010 on a timeline for Afghanistan that envisaged gradually handing over full security leadership in the country by the end of 2014.
"That decision and that roadmap still stands," Rasmussen told reporters before he entered the Brussels meeting.
But, he said, the transition process envisages handing over the last area of Afghanistan by the middle of 2013.
"From that time, Afghan security forces are in the lead all over Afghanistan and from that time the role of our troop will gradually change from combat to support. In that there is nothing new ... It is of course of crucial importance that this change of role takes place in a coordinated manner."
France has said it also intends to wind down operations in Afghanistan by the end of 2013. (Reporting by David Brunnstrom, Justyna Pawlak and Julien Toyer)
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