Ministers ‘united’ on Afghanistan

William Hague

William Hague has arrived in Afghanistan on his first visit to the country as UK foreign secretary.

He flew into Kabul ahead of talks with political and military leaders in the Afghan capital.

He is heading a senior ministerial delegation also consisting of Defence Secretary Liam Fox and International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell.

Dr Fox told the Times newspaper he wanted British forces to return from Afghanistan "as soon as possible".

Interviewed by journalists on their RAF flight into Kabul the ministers indicated they were not planning any significant changes to UK policy on Afghanistan.

Dr Fox said the sacrifices of British troops remained essential.

"When I got this job the very first question I asked myself was ‘do we have to be in Afghanistan, do our troops have to take these costs of life and limb?’ And my answer is still ‘yes’."

However, in an earlier interview with the Times, Dr Fox said the number of UK troops serving in Afghanistan was now "at the limit of numbers".

And he confirmed ministers would be examining whether Afghans could manage their own security by 2014, as suggested by General Stanley McChrystal, the US commander of the international forces in Afghanistan.

Dr Fox said he would be talking to those training Afghan forces to see whether their training could be speeded up.

He stressed that the UK could not act as a "global policeman" in Afghanistan, adding that "national security is the focus now".

Mr Hague said the three ministers were travelling together to make sure they had "a properly coherent British approach to Afghanistan".

He added: "We are taking stock as a new government, we want to see how things are working, we want to hear the military advice, we want to talk to the Afghan government themselves, we want to discuss the detail with the United States.

"The question is how to support the efforts of the Afghan government and our Nato partners, not whether to support them."

‘Promoting livelihoods’

Mr Mitchell said it was "absolutely crucial" to create a functioning state in Afghanistan.

"We need to ensure that we help the Afghan people to build a functioning state," he said.

"That’s about providing basic education and healthcare facilities, but it’s also about ensuring there are opportunities for promoting livelihoods so that people have jobs."

The three Conservative ministers will meet senior Afghan politicians, including President Hamid Karzai, and General McChrystal.

The Ministry of Defence has announced that about 8,000 British troops based in Helmand province are to come under the operational command of the US.

The move is part of a restructuring of Nato forces, with command and control in southern Afghanistan split into two.

And the ministerial visit also comes shortly after a British marine from 40 Commando Royal Marines was killed in an explosion near Patrol Base Almas, in Sangin, on Friday morning.

He died while on a joint foot patrol with the Afghan National Army to reassure and improve the security to the local population and his death takes the total number of British service personnel killed in Afghanistan to 286.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

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