Kabul praised for political management

KABUL, Afghanistan, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- The international community will help Afghan leaders in Kabul take greater responsibility for their country, a NATO leader said.

NATO leaders head to Lisbon, Portugal, Friday for what Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the NATO secretary-general, said would mark a dramatic new phase for the commitment to Afghanistan.

Rasmussen said that allies in Lisbon will look forward to a time when the Afghan government can lead security in the country.

"We will start early next year," he said in a statement. "And, as conditions allow, we aim to complete the process by 2014."

The 2014 deadline marks a milestone envisioned by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who stoked controversy with his statements in a weekend interview with The Washington Post.

"The time has come to reduce military operations," Karzai said in his interview.

U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus, the top commander in Afghanistan, told Afghan officials that Karzai's latest criticism of U.S. strategy threatens to undermine progress in the Afghanistan war.

Karzai's comments reflect sentiments from European leaders, however, who said political development should be the focus of the Afghan strategy.

Staffan de Mistura, the U.N. special envoy to Afghanistan, said he and other world leaders applauded Kabul's development.

"The international community is committed to supporting this Afghan-led process," he said in a statement.