Uproot Taliban: NATO Chief

KABUL: NATO’s new secretary-general pledged Wednesday that the alliance would remain in Afghanistan despite flagging support in many nations from voters anxious over rising deaths among civilians and Western forces.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen flew to Kabul to meet with politicians and military leaders two days after taking control of an alliance that is struggling to maintain its cohesion and relevance as it battles Taliban insurgents thousands of miles (kilometers) from Europe.

“I can assure you and the Afghan people that we will stay and support you for as long as it takes to finish our job,” the former Danish prime minister told Afghan President Hamid Karzai at a joint press conference in the capital, Kabul.

Some 65,000 troops from 42 nations serve in a NATO-led force hobbled by disagreements over the need for more troops, and widely divergent national restrictions on when troops can fight. Recent polls show majorities in Britain, Germany and Canada oppose sending more troops to Afghanistan, even as President Barack Obama moves in U.S. forces.

July was the bloodiest month for the U.S. and NATO in the nearly eight-year war, and the U.N. says civilian deaths soared by 24 percent in the first half of 2009.

Civilian deaths in Western airstrikes and ground operations aimed at Taliban forces are causing deep resentment among Afghans.

Outraged villagers near the southern city of Kandahar said a Western airstrike before dawn Wednesday had killed three children and a man in their village of Kowuk.

Fogh Rasmussen did not address the charges but said, without providing figures, that there had been “a drastic decline in the number of civilian casualties” because of restrictions imposed by U.S. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who took command of NATO and U.S. forces last month.

McChrystal ordered troops to limit the use of airstrikes and avoid clashes that could lead to civilian deaths.

“It is our clear intention to do everything possible to reduce the number of civilian casualties to an absolute minimum,” Fogh Rasmussen said.

Iran’s Pilgrims Banned To Saudi Arabia Over Swine Flu

TEHRAN: Iran has banned pilgrimages to Saudi Arabia during the upcoming Muslim holy month of Ramadan to prevent the spread of swine flu.

Health Minister Kamaran Baghri Lankarani says the measure has been imposed because of possible outbreaks of the disease among pilgrims.

State radio quoted Lankarani as saying Thursday that the high number of pilgrims who come to Saudi Arabia during Ramadan increases the risk of infection.

Iran has registered 145 cases of swine flu, many of them linked to travels to the kingdom. The first case was a 16-year-old Iranian boy who came from the United States with his parents in late June.

About half a million of Iranians travel to Saudi Arabia on pilgrimages every year.

This year, Ramadan starts in late August.