US to urge allies to boost Afghan support

Brussels, Jan 25: The United States will urge European alliesto match it in injecting more development funds into Afghanistan athigh-level talks set for Friday, a senior US official said.

U S Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will tell NATO and EUcounterparts that 2007 could emerge as a key year in efforts to subduethe stubbornly resistant Taliban-led insurgency and push forward withoften patchy reconstruction work.

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

''We've made a lot of promises to Afghans and a lot of promises toourselves.'' The push reflects a U.S. policy review that concludedAfghanistan needs more resources from the United States and others bothto fight the Taliban and to win local support with tangible benefitslike roads, schools and electricity.

U S officials have said the Bush administration could seek 5billion to 6 billion dollar in a supplemental budget request toCongress that would cover a stepped-up effort to train the Afghanmilitary 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) hassome 32,000 troops in Afghanistan and last year encountered some of theworst violence since the U S-led invasion to oust the Taliban from thecountry in 2001.

CASUALTIES Alliance officials insist that despite taking heavycasualties last year, they are broadly satisfied with militaryprogress. But they acknowledge the reconstruction effort must beaccelerated to help Afghans facing dire humanitarian conditions.

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

However basic security is a priority amid expectations of a freshTaliban offensive as the weather improves. U S Defense Secretary RobertGates said last week he was looking favourably on requests by NATOcommanders for more troops.

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

NATO countries vowed at an alliance summit in Riga last Novemberto make their ISAF troops more mobile and ready to help out othernational 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 theycould send up to 1,000 more soldiers and diplomats say France haspointed out its army is already stretched by peace missions in Africa,Lebanon, the Balkans and elsewhere.

Reuters>