The United States and Britain, the foreign countries with the most troops in Afghanistan, called on reluctant Nato allies on Wednesday to share the burden of combat against hard-line Taliban guerrillas.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in London for talks with British leaders on Afghan strategy, said only a small number of Nato nations had troops in the most dangerous areas of Afghanistan.
"We believe very strongly that there ought to be a sharing of that burden throughout the (Nato) alliance," Rice told reporters travelling with her. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told parliament he wanted Nato allies at a summit in Bucharest in April to commit to a fair sharing of the task in Afghanistan.
"We have 15 percent of the troops in Afghanistan ... We need a proper burden sharing not only in terms of personnel but also in terms of helicopters and other equipment," he said.
Some Nato countries have bristled at public criticism from Washington over the refusal of a number of alliance members to position their forces in the more dangerous south of Afghanistan to fight Taliban insurgents. Germany, for example, under its parliamentary mandate can send only 3,500 soldiers to the less dangerous north as part of the 42,000-strong Nato mission.
That means most of the fighting against the Taliban is shouldered by Canada, Britain, the United States and the Netherlands. They all want others to contribute more. Britain announced a rotation of its troops in Afghanistan on Wednesday but said their numbers would remain about the same at 7,800. Brown said Britain planned to send new helicopters and other equipment in the next few months.
The Taliban, ousted from power by a US-led invasion in 2001, fought back strongly last year. The United Nations said on Wednesday that Afghanistan, the world's biggest opium producer, is set for another bumper crop this year, providing a windfall for the Taliban who tax farmers.
Two US non-governmental reports last week said Afghanistan risked becoming a failed state and a haven for global terrorism without new US and international efforts to beat the Taliban.
ENVOY: Western efforts in Afghanistan have been fragmented and Rice said she hoped a new international envoy could be appointed soon to co-ordinate this work. In January, Afghan President Hamid Karzai rejected British politician Paddy Ashdown for the job.
"We want to be very clear that this is a sovereign Afghan government and it has to take its own decisions, but it has a heavy reliance on international support," said Rice. "It is important to move ahead on an envoy as soon as possible." Rice, who will hold talks in London with Brown and Foreign Secretary David Miliband, said she believed another European was likely to get the post.
Part of Rice's London visit is to smooth relations after US Defence Secretary Robert Gates upset many close allies, including Britain, when he questioned the preparedness of some Nato members for counter-insurgency in southern Afghanistan.
"It is bumpy and there is a lot of maturing that the alliance is having to do ... Frankly, counter-insurgency is really hard for any traditional military, let alone (Nato)," said Rice. The United States has 29,000 military personnel in Afghanistan, about half of them attached to the Nato mission. Washington plans to send an additional 3,200 troops and hopes this will encourage others to do the same.
Canada has said it would pull out its forces early next year if other Nato countries did not send in more. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said in December that France could boost its presence in Afghanistan to help the Afghan army and police.
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