NATO LEADERS HAVE today endorsed a plan to begin the transfer of power to domestic forces in Afghanistan and to completely hand over military control by 2014.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who has been pushing for a deadline for the power transfer, has welcomed the announcement. He said:

We are confident the transition will succeed to the Afghan authority, leadership and ownership, because I found today strong commitment by the international community.

Troops from 48 countries are currently fighting in Afghanistan.

Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said:

Today marks the beginning of a new phase in our mission in Afghanistan. We will launch the process by which the Afghan government will take leadership for security throughout the country, district by district.

If the enemies of Afghanistan have the idea that they can just wait it out until we leave, they have the wrong idea. We will stay as long as it takes to finish our job.

However, Rasmussen added that the international commitment to Afghanistan would continue and that some of the 150,000 foreign troops now deployed in Afghanistan would remain in the country past the deadline:

Afghanistan’s fight against terrorism is of strategic, global importance… Which is why we will agree here today a long-term partnership between NATO and Afghanistan to endure beyond the end of our combat mission.

Some NATO officials have expressed fears that a recent rise in violence in the country means that it could be hard to meet the target.