Karzai meets Nato to discuss Afghanistan exit strategy
Baku, November 20 (AZERTAC). Leaders of Nato`s 28 nations have begun discussions with Afghan President Hamid Karzai on the future of the alliance`s military campaign in Afghanistan. The talks in Lisbon focus on pulling combat troops out by the end of 2014. Nato`s secretary general said the goal was "Afghan leadership" but Nato had a "continuing commitment" to the country.
On Friday, the military alliance agreed to develop a joint missile defence shield covering all member states and approved a new 10-year global plan. The "strategic concept" commits NATO to defending all member states, countering new threats and working towards a nuclear-free world. US President Barack Obama said the new missile shield would demonstrate Nato`s "determination to protect our citizens from the threat of ballistic missiles". Mr Obama did not mention Iran, judged to be the key potential missile threat to Nato members, correspondents say, and there was little detail on Russia`s reaction to the plan.
Moscow strongly opposed previous US attempts to build a missile shield in Europe, fearing its own security could be compromised. The Portugal summit also backed the swift ratification of the new Start treaty between the US and Russia, aimed at cutting the nuclear weapon stockpiles of both sides. The treaty faces opposition in the Senate and could be held up by Republicans after they made gains in recent mid-term elections.
The Afghan delegation and Nato leaders began several scheduled hours of talks on Saturday morning with the aim of thrashing out a plan for a transition of power from Nato to Afghan forces. Nato`s International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) has some 130,000 soldiers based in Afghanistan, most of them from the US. Mr Obama has spoken of the Isaf mission "moving to a new phase", but insists the target for handing over the overall responsibility for security to the Afghans remains 2014. Some Nato members have expressed concerns that Afghanistan may not be ready to manage its own security by that time, but Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has described the goal as "realistic". "Afghanistan`s fight against terrorism is of strategic global importance. Success matters as much to us as it does to the Afghan people,".
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