NATO, Pakistan says millions of Afghans must go home

BRUSSELS, Jan 30 (Reuters) NATO and Pakistan agreed today that three million Afghan refugees in Pakistan posed a security threat and needed to be repatriated.

Talks between Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and the 26 NATO countries with more than 32,000 troops in Afghanistan centred on the need to close the refugee camps that NATO sees as a recruiting ground for extremists, a NATO official said.

''The refugee camps pose a real threat,'' a NATO official said afterwards. ''Certainly NATO wants to see it done.'' However, he stressed it was for Afghanistan, Pakistan and the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) to determine the timing and that repatriation needed to be done properly.

''Shifting three million people across the border without the appropriate conditions in place for living, for employment, is not a solution.'' Many Afghan refugees have been in Pakistan for years because of a succession of wars or conflicts. Large numbers were born in Pakistan and do not want to go back to Afghanistan.

After the talks NATO Secretary-General Jaap De Hoop Scheffer avoided public criticism of Pakistan's failure to stop the infiltration of insurgents across its border with Afghanistan.

Aziz said neighbouring Afghanistan needed an approach that included security, development and repatriation.

''We want them to be peaceful, we want them to grow and develop,'' he said. ''All sides have to do more and all sides are committed to a strong and stable Afghanistan.'' One alliance diplomat said Aziz had assured NATO nations that efforts to stabilise Afghanistan were Pakistan's top foreign policy objective.

''That was something allies wanted to hear and were glad to hear,'' he said.

Afghanistan has struggled to cope with the return of more than 4.6 million refugees since the Taliban was overthrown in 2001 by a US invasion in response to the September 11 attacks.

Afghanistan, Pakistan and the UNHCR agree repatriation of the remainder will be voluntary and gradual. Afghanistan would be overwhelmed if Pakistan started forcing back large numbers.

''They simply can't accept too many too quickly,'' a UN official said.

NATO, suffering increasing casualties in Afghanistan, wants Pakistan, an ally in the U.S.-led war on terrorism, to step up efforts against infiltration by pro-Taliban militants.

REUTERS SP BD2252