UK renews plea for more 'burden-sharing' in Afghanistan
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
London, April 1, IRNA
UK-Afghanistan
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown renewed his call Tuesday for NATO allies to provide more assistance to the military campaign in Afghanistan.
"Afghanistan is the front line against the Taliban, lets make no mistake about it," Brown said.
"If Afghanistan falls again to the Taliban it creates a vulnerability for the whole of the rest of the world," he warned.
"And if al Qaeda, as they are trying to do, make progress in Afghanistan, that is also a danger to the world," he told domestic and foreign journalists at his latest press conference in London.
His call for "better burden sharing amongst our allies" comes ahead of the start of a two-day summit of NATO leaders, which starts in Bucharest, Romania, on Wednesday.
It comes after another two UK troops were killed in Helmand province on Sunday.
Britain currently has some 5,800 troops deployed in Afghanistan as part of the 43,000-strong Nato-led force, Isaf.
Last week, French president Nicholas Sarkozy hinted during a London state visit that his country may send extra troops to the 1,500 based around Kabul.
Similar to the new emphasis in Iraq, Brown stressed that the West must train local forces and give the Afghan people a stake in the future of their country.
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