US to NATO raise your game on Afghanistan

BRUSSELS, Jan 26 (Reuters) US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice brought pledges of extra troops and aid for Afghanistan to NATO talks today and told allies they too must raise their game to see off the Taliban.

But US frustration at what Washington sees as a lack of commitment by European partners is unlikely to be assuaged immediately, with few signs that others will make big new offers of their own at the Brussels meeting.

The Pentagon announced yesterday it was extending the tours of 3,200 troops in Afghanistan by up to 120 days. Given other troop movements, the move means that in the next few months it will have 2,500 more soldiers there than planned.

Separately, Rice announced the Bush administration would ask Congress for 8.6 billion dollars in new money to train and equip the Afghan army and police, and 2 billion dollars for reconstruction projects. US officials said they wanted allies to follow suit.

''To achieve results, the international community needs to provide the necessary military and civilian components,'' said NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana insisted European countries, which already count among the largest donors of aid to Afghanistan, would continue funding at the same levels.

''And that's a lot,'' he told reporters as he arrived for the talks, called by Rice in a bid to inject more vigour into NATO's 32,000-strong peace effort and the slow reconstruction process.

Afghan Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta told Reuters the Taliban threat could be stamped out within three years if neighbouring Pakistan cooperated more in stopping cross-border incursions, and if more international funds were available.

''If we bring all the necessary efforts together, if Pakistan cooperated in this process, I think the problem of the Taliban we can lose within two to three years,'' he said in an interview on the margins of the talks.

SCEPTICISM While several NATO nations were believed to be assessing the scope for raising troops, none was likely to be ready to make an announcement in Brussels, an alliance source said.

Others insist they are already doing enough on aid and say their armies are already stretched by missions around the world.

''In Afghanistan we are making real progress but we recognise we have more to do,'' British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said, adding there was a need to step up the fight against narcotics and corruption.

With more than 4,000 people dying in violence, last year was the bloodiest in Afghanistan since U.S.-led forces toppled the Taliban Islamist government in 2001 in response to the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

US commanders expect the Taliban to step up the level of violence again in spring. Fighting in Afghanistan traditionally subsides in the winter but picks up again after the snows melt.

A senior State Department official said the security assistance would help equip and train 70,000 soldiers and 82,000 police in Afghanistan.

He said the 2 billion dollars in reconstruction assistance would pay for roads, power, anti-drugs efforts and other projects.

While Afghanistan is the main topic, ministers will also hold a first discussion on a UN plan seen granting Kosovo limited independence from Serbia, due to be unveiled by UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari on Friday in Vienna.

REUTERS PDM BST1416