Afghan rebels on back foot like "never before": NATO
BERLIN |
(Reuters) - Rebel forces in Afghanistan have been forced onto the back foot and are now under more pressure than they have ever been, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Friday.
After meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin, Rasmussen said NATO was looking forward to handing principle responsibility for security in Afghanistan to local forces from next year, and that the timing for this looked good.
"The insurgency is under pressure, under pressure like never before in Afghanistan. Our aim for this year was to regain the momentum," Rasmussen told a news conference. "Now we have it."
Rasmussen and Merkel said a meeting on November 19-20 in Lisbon -- where NATO will unveil a new strategic plan for the military alliance -- had been at the forefront of their talks.
A revamped NATO would remain the "bedrock of transatlantic security," the secretary general said, adding "I believe that that will include missile defense for Europe."
He said he hoped NATO heads of government would in Lisbon agree to build a system to protect Europe against missile attack, adding that he hoped this would "go together with a clear offer toRussia to cooperate and to benefit."
Rasmussen, a former Danish prime minister, said he wanted NATO to step up cooperation with Russia on missile defense and Afghanistan. Russia is due to attend the Lisbon summit.
"These relations (with Russia) have already improved substantially from where they were a year ago," he said. "I think we can lay the foundation for a long-term strategic partnership between NATO and Russia."
Rasmussen reiterated his desire to see NATO become a forum for consultation on international security matters.
"Who would suffer if our partners in Europe, central Asia, north Africa and the Middle East were to deepen their cooperation with NATO?," he said at a separate event in Berlin.
"Who stands to lose if countries such as China, India and Pakistan were to engage in a closer dialogue with NATO?"
(Reporting by Dave Graham and Christian Ruettger; editing by Noah Barkin)
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