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NATO Chief Visits Pakistan to Discuss Regional Security

   VOA News 21 July 2010
   NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen at joint press conference
   in Islamabad with Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi

Photo: AP

   Pakistan's  Foreign  Minister  Shah  Mehmood Qureshi, right, speaks as
   NATO  Secretary-General  Anders Fogh Rasmussen looks on during a joint
   press conference in Islamabad, 21 July 2010

   NATO  Chief  Anders  Fogh  Rasmussen  is  in  Pakistan, where he spoke
   Wednesday about the country's role in regional security.
   At  a  press  conference  with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood
   Qureshi,  Rasmussen also reiterated NATO forces' commitment to stay in
   Afghanistan  beyond the planned transfer of security responsibility to
   Afghan  forces.   He  also said he looks forward to strengthening the
   alliance's  military  and  political relationship with Pakistan, a key
   U.S. ally in the war on terror.
   Rasmussen spoke one day after attending an international conference in
   Kabul  that endorsed the Afghan government's plan to take full control
   of security by 2014.
   Western  nations  see  Pakistan  as  a  vital  partner  in  the war in
   Afghanistan, as Taliban and al-Qaida militants populate both countries
   in the mountainous region along their shared border.
   Violence is at its worst in Afghanistan since the U.S.-led invasion in
   2001  that  toppled  the  Taliban. More than 100 foreign soldiers were
   killed  in June alone, the deadliest month for international forces in
   the entire nine years of conflict.

   Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.

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