KABUL: NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen told a major international conference in Kabul on Tuesday that the alliance would remain in Afghanistan even after Afghans take over responsibility for security.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai says his government is working to take full responsibility for security in the war-torn country by the end of 2014 and Tuesday's conference is seeking to lay out a roadmap to Afghan leadership.
Rasmussen said transition would be based on "conditions, not calendars" with NATO forces working to train Afghan police and army to take the lead in protecting the country from a nearly nine-year Taliban insurgency.
"Transition will be done gradually -- on the basis of a sober assessment of the political and security situation, so that it is irreversible.
"And when it happens, international forces won't leave; they will simply move into a supporting role," he said.
"We have not come this far, at this cost, to falter just as we see our common goal take shape."