6 February 2008
Gordon Brown and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have held talks in Downing Street on a range of issues including the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan.
Discussions centred on the role of NATO in the fight against the Taliban and the need to set out a clear strategy at the forthcoming NATO summit in April.
Speaking to MPs in Parliament today, the PM said that his priority at the two-day NATO summit would be to see a "burden sharing" agreement among allies operating in Afghanistan that was "fair".
The PM said:
"We have 15 percent of the troops in Afghanistan. Other countries, including Spain and France, have made announcements to add to their troops in Afghanistan. But we need a proper burden sharing - not only in terms of personnel, but also in terms of helicopters and other equipment."
Speaking to reporters before arriving in the UK, Ms Rice said that coalition forces should start to make "an assessment" of operations in Afghanistan that looks "three or four years" into the future. The time had come to "intensify discussions", she said.
The NATO summit will take place in Bucharest from 2-4 April. One item high on the agenda will be the appointment of a high-level coordinator of civilian and military activity after former Liberal Democrat leader Paddy Ashdown declined to take up the post.
In today’s meeting, Mr Brown and Ms Rice also backed Kofi Annan’s mediation efforts in Kenya and agreed to focus on bringing greater investment to Palestinian territories in light of ongoing tensions in the Gaza Strip.
delicious
digg
facebook
