U S to urge allies to boost Afghan support

BRUSSELS, Jan 24 (Reuters) The United States will urge European allies to match it in injecting more development funds into Afghanistan at high-level talks set for Friday, a senior U S official said.

U S Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will tell NATO and EU counterparts that 2007 could emerge as a key year in efforts to subdue the stubbornly resistant Taliban-led insurgency and push forward with often patchy reconstruction work.

''We've got to kick up our investment. The U.S. is going to do that and we'd like to see our allies do that. 2007 is a year in which we can make a profound difference,'' the official, who requested anonymity, told reporters today.

''We've made a lot of promises to Afghans and a lot of promises to ourselves.'' The push reflects a U.S. policy review that concluded Afghanistan needs more resources from the United States and others both to fight the Taliban and to win local support with tangible benefits like roads, schools and electricity.

U S officials have said the Bush administration could seek 5 billion to 6 billion dollar in a supplemental budget request to Congress that would cover a stepped-up effort to train the Afghan military and police as well as improve infrastructure.

It was too early to say whether Rice would be able to announce additional funds on Friday, the senior official said.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has some 32,000 troops in Afghanistan and last year encountered some of the worst violence since the U S-led invasion to oust the Taliban from the country in 2001.

CASUALTIES Alliance officials insist that despite taking heavy casualties last year, they are broadly satisfied with military progress. But they acknowledge the reconstruction effort must be accelerated to help Afghans facing dire humanitarian conditions.

NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer reaffirmed in talks with new U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at NATO on Wednesday that ''there was no military solution'' for Afghanistan, de Hoop Scheffer's spokesman told a news briefing.

However basic security is a priority amid expectations of a fresh Taliban offensive as the weather improves. U S Defense Secretary Robert Gates said last week he was looking favourably on requests by NATO commanders for more troops.

An alliance source said any reinforcement could involve the deployment of around 1,000 new troops to help out as needed -- the additional reserve battalion requested by NATO commanders last year but for which they are still waiting.

NATO countries vowed at an alliance summit in Riga last November to make their ISAF troops more mobile and ready to help out other national contingents in times of emergency.

But there is little appetite among other NATO allies to step up their military presence for the time being.

British officials have so far played down media speculation they could send up to 1,000 more soldiers and diplomats say France has pointed out its army is already stretched by peace missions in Africa, Lebanon, the Balkans and elsewhere.

Reuters PDS RN0034