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http://www.hipakistan.com/en/detail.php?newsId=en19759&F_catID=&f_type=source Hi Pakistan March 18, 2003 NATO ready if needed to lead Afghan force: Jones -- BERLIN: NATO military commander General James L. Jones said Monday that, if called upon, the alliance was ready to play a role in leading the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan (ISAF). Speaking after talks with German Defence Minister Peter Struck, Jones said that if the Alliance was needed in a leadership role within ISAF then "I am quite sure that NATO assets could be used, and could be used effectively." Germany and The Netherlands took over joint control of ISAF from Turkey on February 10 and will lead it for six months, but Berlin has been urging NATO to take over the leadership role at the end of the current mandate in August. The 4,800-strong force has patrolled Kabul and its environs since its creation under an Afghan power-sharing agreement reached in the German city of Bonn in 2001 following the fall of the Taliban militia. ISAF comprises some 5,000 troops from 30 countries, including around 2,500 German military and 600 Dutch soldiers, and provides assistance to Afghan authorities in securing Kabul. Last month, Struck said that Germany could withdraw its ISAF troops from Afghanistan if tensions escalated too high amid any war on Iraq. He said a contingency plan had been prepared to evacuate civilians, and in the longer-term, the German military. After the United States, Germany has the most soldiers of any country deployed abroad with around 10,000 troops in peacekeeping missions and anti-terrorism operations. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Platinum - Watch CBS' NCAA March Madness, live on your desktop! http://platinum.yahoo.com --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bdn7KI.YXJjaGl2 Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] TOPICA - Start your own email discussion group. FREE! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/create/index2.html ==^================================================================
