By KUNA
London : The situation in Afghanistan is “very difficult,” Britains Foreign Office minister Lord Malloch-Brown acknowledged Friday.
Amid growing concerns about resurgent violence and a looming humanitarian crisis, he told BBC radio Britain was taking steps to address the war-ravaged country’s problems.
He insisted NATO allies would help President Hamid Karzai maintain his authority despite recent signs of friction with the Afghan government.
Speaking from the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa where he is attending an African Union summit, Lord Malloch-Brown said the British Government had already re-appraised the “possibilities” in Afghanistan.
Ministers had also held talks with their American, Canadian and Dutch counterparts about the difficulties facing their forces in Afghanistan at the end of last year.
“Not just we the British, but the US, Canada and the Dutch are all collectively re-tooling our strategy to align it more realistically with the possibilities,” he told the BBC.
“Which means more emphasis on not just a military victory but a political approach too in support of President Karzai to win over those who’ve become disaffected in recent years, to win them back, and an effort to get our economic assistance much more directly to the people affected,” he said.
“We recognise these problems and we’re trying to address them, but yes, it’s a very difficult situation,” the minister added.
With violence on the increase, the major charity Oxfam yesterday urged countries involved in Afghanistan to undertake “a major change in direction” to avert a humanitarian disaster.
Earlier this week, the US-based Afghanistan Study Group warned that progress was under “serious threat” from rising violence and declining confidence among ordinary Afghans.
Those warnings followed President Karzai’s criticism of British troops in the southern Helmand province.
Meanwhile, the former British opposition Liberal Democrat leader Lord Ashdown subsequently ruled himself out as a prospective UN envoy to the country, saying the comments were targeted at him.
Relations have also been strained with Canada, which has threatened to withdraw its troops unless additional forces are found to support efforts.