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Barrack Obama |
The US president has warned of
"hard days ahead" at a NATO summit in Chicago dominated by the
forthcoming withdrawal of international forces from Afghanistan.
"We still have a lot of work
to do and there will be great challenges ahead," Barack Obama said on
Sunday. "The loss of life continues in Afghanistan and there will be hard
days ahead."
The aim of the NATO summit is to
agree on a common stance as the alliance prepares to hand over security duties
to Afghan forces at the end of 2014.
More than 50 leaders are
attending the two-day meeting, including heads of state and government from the
28 NATO countries, as well as Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Asif Ali
Zardari, his Pakistani counterpart.
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Hamid Karzai, Afghan president |
"Afghanistan will be no
longer a burden on the shoulders of our friends in the international community,
on the shoulders of the United States and our other allies."
- Hamid Karzai, Afghan president
Meanwhile, scuffles between
police and protesters broke out after thousands of anti-war demonstrators
marched as close as they were allowed to the summit venue.
The protest was largely peaceful
until the end when a small group of demonstrators clashed with a line of police
who tried to keep them from the lakeside convention centre where the meeting
was taking place.
The marchers were led by a group
of US veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who symbolically gave back
their military medals.
In the protests in Chicago
several people had been arrested and handcuffed.
“Some protesters walked away with
blood on their faces so it appears it turned violent in a minor way," he
said.
'Peace and security'
Obama said that the world was
behind his strategy to end the war in Afghanistan. As he met Karzai, he also
said that the United States recognised the "hardship" Afghanistan had
been through, adding that its people "desperately want peace and
security."
Karzai said it was important to
complete the security transition and withdrawal of foreign combat troops from
Afghanistan that the summit is expected to ratify.
"Afghanistan will be no
longer a burden on the shoulders of our friends in the international community,
on the shoulders of the United States and our other allies," he said.
New French President Francois
Hollande has promised to pull his country's soldiers out of Afghanistan by the
end of this year.
- Anti-NATO protest turns violent
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Anti-NATO protest turns violent |
While insisting he remained
committed to NATO, Hollande told reporters he would "ensure our soldiers
come back before the end of 2012.
But NATO Secretary-General Anders
Fogh Rasmussen expressed confidence the alliance would "maintain
solidarity" despite France's decision. "There will be no rush for the
exits," he said.
He also said he was optimistic
that the international community would continue to finance the Afghan security
forces, adding that supporting Afghan forces was less expensive than deploying
NATO troops.
Rasmussen said that the
international community in general had a responsibility and interest in
ensuring that Afghan forces took full responsibility for security after 2014 to
avoid terrorist safe havens being re-established.
Some nations, including the US,
Australia, Britain, and Germany, have made pledges to an international fund set
up to help Afghan forces after the NATO pullout.
"US officials are not saying
what they will be pledging, as it seems they want other countries to pledge
initially." The US is expected to pay half of an estimated $4bn needed
every year.
A sticking point for NATO's
campaign in Afghanistan remains Pakistan's refusal to reopen supply routes into
Afghanistan since closing them in protest over a US airstrike which killed 24
soldiers last November.
Zardari's presence in Chicago had
raised hopes of an imminent deal, but so far no announcement has so far been
forthcoming.