No Early Pull-Out for British Troops in Afghanistan

Posted January 28th, 2012 at 11:30 am (UTC-5)
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Britain says it will stand by Afghanistan, keeping troops there until 2014.

British Prime Minister David Cameron told reporters Saturday he has no plans to pull his country's combat troops from Afghanistan before the current deadline expires. He also said Britain will continue to have a strong relationship with Kabul going forward because “it is in the interests of the whole world to have a safe and stable Afghanistan that is free from the terrorism.”

Mr. Cameron's comments followed a meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai outside London. The British leader said his country will continue to provide Afghanistan with aid after its troops withdraw in 2014.

His position differed from that of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who met with Mr. Karzai on Friday. Mr. Sarkozy said French troops will complete their withdrawal from the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan a year earlier than planned, at the end of 2013.

The French president also said France will transfer security to the Afghans in March in the eastern province of Kapisa, where nearly all French troops are based and where last week's killing of the four unarmed soldiers took place.

Mr. Karzai has said Afghanistan is ready to take on more responsibility, after receiving help from France and other countries during the past decade.

Not all Afghans are optimistic the country can succeed without continued support from NATO forces.

Political analyst Dawood Sultanzoi, a former member of parliament, says the early French withdrawal may backfire.

“Afghanistan is not ready to change the realities on the ground and move things forward and then wish there is peace and stability and there is readiness of our troops. I think the troops' readiness, Afghan security forces' readiness will take time. Even 2014 is very optimistic and even with that optimism there are certain things that need to be done, so I think this is a very political timetable that Mr. Sarkozy has tried to enforce. It won't be realistic.”

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SOUNDBITES:

1. (English) BRITISH PRIME MINISTER DAVID CAMERON SAYING:

“Well, first of all, on Afghanistan, all of the NATO

partners, all of the countries involved in Afghanistan,

have signed up to an agreement that we will take our combat

troops out of Afghanistan by the end of 2014. But we will

continue after that to have a long-term partnership and

relationship with Afghanistan because it is in the

interests of the whole world to have a safe and stable

Afghanistan that is free from the terrorism that did so much

damage to our countries in the past.''

2. (English) BRITISH PRIME MINISTER DAVID CAMERON SAYING:

“But let me be clear. After our combat troops have left

in 2014 there will still be a strong relationship between

Britain and Afghanistan, a relationship based on diplomacy,

based on trade, based on our continued aid programme to

help Afghans build a stronger country, because it is in our

interest, just as it is in your interest, to make sure that

the future Afghanistan is democratic and stable and free of

the terror of the past. Those are our aims. They don't go

any further than that. That is what we are in Afghanistan

to help deliver and that, is what we believe we can deliver

by the end of 2014. Thank you very much, thank you.''

SOUNDBITES:

1. (English) Dawood Sultanzoi, Political Analyst, Former Member of Parliament:

“Afghanistan is not ready to change the realities on the ground and move things forward and then wish there is peace and stability and there is readiness of our troops. I think the troops' readiness, Afghan security forces' readiness will take time. Even 2014 is very optimistic and even with that optimism there are certain things that need to be done, so I think this is a very political timetable that Mr. Sarkozy has tried to enforce. It won't be realistic.”

2. (Dari) Ahmad Shafiq, 25-year-old local resident:

“If the international community wants peace and stability in the region they have to accept to help Afghanistan. Without the help of the international community Afghanistan is not able to consider itself stable and peaceful.”