Plan to begin Afghan security handover this year dropped

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General David Petraeus speaks in Kabul General David Petraeus formally assumed command of Nato forces in Afghanistan earlier this month.


Plan to begin Afghan security handover this year dropped
Jon Boone in Kabul
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 20 July 2010 18.48 BST

Plans to begin handing control of provinces in Afghanistan to Afghan security forces by the end of this year have been quietly dropped amid fears among European countries that General David Petraeus, the new US commander in the country, is less committed to a speedy transfer of power.

The change of tack, revealed in the final communique from today's historic international conference in Kabul, reflects Petraeus's concerns that security conditions in Afghanistan are too weak for a transition of power to begin as quickly as originally planned, a Nato official told the Guardian.

Although the conference agreed that the security needs of the entire country will have to be met by the Afghan army and police by 2014, major European troop contributors were looking forward to more rapid progress in the relatively stable north and west of the country, where Germany, Italy, Norway, Spain and others have personnel.

The difficulties involved in any transition were highlighted today when an Afghan soldier killed two US civilians and one of his own comrades in Mazar-e-Sharif, one of the most stable cities of northern Afghanistan.

The incident marred the otherwise successful conclusion of an international conference on Afghanistan led by Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, and the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton.