Britain in Afghanistan for the long haul - Browne

LONDON, June 13 (Reuters) Defence minister Des Browne today said it was impossible to predict how long British troops would have to stay in Afghanistan to help bring security to the country.

Browne, on a visit to the volatile southwest of Afghanistan where British troops sent to help reconstruction have faced a rising insurgency by Taliban rebels, said progress had been made but much was left to do.

''I think the scale of this challenge was known and understood,'' he told BBC radio, saying his predecessor John Reid had committed troops for three years.

''We have made progress even in the six weeks that we have been here. At this stage it would be impossible for me to honestly predict how long this is going to take,'' he said.

Browne, speaking the day his ministry prepared to name a British soldier killed over the weekend, said the length of the deployment would depend on the ability of local people and politicians to calm matters and commence reconstruction.

''Early indications are that the Afghan national army, who have been in some cases working with our people, are of the highest standards and very safe people,'' Browne said.

''There are other challenges in relation to the police, and it will not surprise anybody to know that there are suggestions of police having allegiances beyond the chief of police and the government locally and nationally,'' he said.

The British soldier was killed and two others badly wounded when a patrol in Helmand province came under attack by suspected Taliban insurgents.

He was the first British military death since British troops began deploying to the area in recent weeks as part of an expansion of NATO forces into the south of the country.

REUTERS KD PM1358