President Basescu: Romania will keep troops in Afghanistan until NATO mission accomplishment

Romania will keep troops in Afghanistan until the accomplishment of the NATO mission in that country, Romanian President Traian Basescu (in picture) said after meeting Alliance Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen at the organisation's headquarters on Thursday. Basescu has also announced Romania will dispatch 66 gendarmes to Afghanistan in the following period, while the first contingent of Afghan officers will arrive for training in Romania in the coming weeks. The Romanian leader announced that in the talks with Rasmussen he underscored that all the NATO members should look to establishing a civil servants corps in Afghanistan soon, since there is need that a large part of the administrative tasks currently provided by the allied forces and the Afghan military forces be transferred to the civil Afghan administration. The Alliance Secretary-General hailed Romania's commitment to the NATO missions, particularly the one in Afghanistan, where Romania is also involved in training the Afghan officers. AGERPRES