Afghanistan: France and Germany are urged to pull their weight

Published on Friday 4 December 2009 22:09

FOREIGN Secretary David Miliband has challenged Nato allies to do "the maximum possible" to support efforts to bring peace to Afghanistan, as 25 out of 43 countries committed an extra 7,000 troops to the region.

Every country and every leader now had to ask themselves whether they were doing the maximum they could on the military and civilian side in Afghanistan, the Foreign Secretary said.

Mr Miliband's message was a coded call for major Nato allies such as Germany and France to pull their weight. So far, they have resisted committing additional troops.

But other countries yesterday did offer a boost to Nato's forces.

At a summit of foreign ministers in Brussels, Nato secretary-general Anders Fogh Rasmussen declared that there were now enough pledges from alliance countries to help boost forces by 7,000 next year.

An extra 30,000 troops will be sent by US President Barack Obama, while Prime Minister Gordon Brown has pledged an extra 500 British forces to bolster efforts in the volatile Helmand region.

Italy is sending 1,000 more soldiers, Poland has announced an additional 600, and Spain, Slovakia and the Czech Republic have also pledged more troops.

Mr Rasmussen repeated his hope of earlier this week that there would be more "on top of that".

Mr Brown had asked for at least 5,000 more troops to come from other Nato allies and the 7,000 unveiled exceeds his target. Downing Street made clear that despite the extra numbers, the UK would not be scaling back its deployment.

Conservative leader David Cameron said the extra troops pledged by the US, Britain and other allies offered an opportunity, but cautioned that the public's patience was running out.

Speaking after touring a market in Nad Ali, in southern Helmand province, Mr Cameron said he had seen a "glimpse of what can be possible if we get it right".

"We can't be here for another eight years," he told the BBC. "I think following President Obama's speech and the increase in American and British forces, we have a chance, probably our last chance, to get it right, but we do have a chance. But time is short. The Afghans think that time is short and the British public think that time is short."

Mr Cameron said he believed "some progress" was being made by UK forces in Helmand, although the situation was currently "not nearly good enough".

He added: "We all want to make progress and bring British troops home as soon as we can but any timetable has got to be based on success and results, and we must not give people false hope.

"It is very important not to send mixed messages. Instead, let's say we're here to train up the Afghan National Army and police and as soon as the job is done, we can bring our troops home. But don't let's set artificial timetables."