Lisbon, November 21: President Barack Obama said for the first time he wants US troops out of major combat in Afghanistan by the end of 2014, the date he and other NATO leaders set for moving Afghans into the lead role in fighting the Taliban.
Allies had different interpretations of that target’s meaning. Capping a two-day summit of 28 NATO leaders in this Atlantic port city, Obama said that after a series of public disputes with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, and despite the likelihood of more to come, the US and its NATO partners have aligned their aims for stabilizing the country with Karzai’s eagerness to assume full control.
–Agencies