Afghanistan takes centre stage at Nato summit

British Prime Minister Tony Blair (top right) and US President George W. Bush (lower right) chat with other Nato leaders as a group photo is being taken during the Nato Summit yesterday in Istanbul. Afghanistan takes centre stage on the second and final day of a Nato summit after leaders pledged to beef up its peace force there as the country gears up for crucial elections threatened by violence. PHOTO: AFP

"I am sure that the deployment of the forces ... will bring a sense of better security, higher activity for the Afghan people to make their lives better," Afghan President Hamid Karzai told reporters here.

On Monday Nato pledged to take command of four more military-civilian reconstruction teams in the north of the country -- where they already run one -- and send more troops to help ensure security during the ballot.

Alliance leaders also promised to help train Iraq's new army, but the two announcements were overshadowed by news from Baghdad that Iraq's interim government had taken over power from the US-led occupation coalition, two days earlier than planned.

Nato's mission in Afghanistan, its first outside Europe, is seen by many analysts as a test of the alliance's credibility. Some experts warn that if it cannot deliver there Washington may conclude the alliance, set up during the Cold War to counter the perceived Soviet threat, has outlived its usefulness.

Nato leaders, who say Afghanistan is their "key priority," agreed to boost the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) there from 6,500 to 10,000 troops, although not all of them in the country.

The alliance took over ISAF last August but has struggled to drum up contributions from its member states to expand the force outside the capital Kabul.

"I'm sure that what you have done yesterday will bring to the Afghan people an improvement ... that will eventually cause Afghanistan to have institutions of its own to defend itself and to protect itself," Karzai said here Tuesday before addressing Nato leaders.

He underlined that the most important requirement for elections was voters, welcoming the fact that some 5.2 million Afghanis have so far registered despite difficult conditions not helped by insurgent attacks.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has warned that the vote might have to be postponed if security did not improve. But Karzai insisted Tuesday that it must go ahead on schedule.

He predicted however that insurgent violence would continue, saying the country's former Taliban leadership, ousted by a US-led offensive in December 2001 weeks after the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, were now targeting "soft targets" such as election workers.