April 05, 2008	Saturday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 27, 1429

BUCHAREST, April 4: Nato and Russia have concluded a key agreement on the land transit of non-military freight destined for Afghanistan, a Nato spokeswoman said on Friday.

“It’s been done and it’s going to be signed by (Russian Foreign Minister Sergei) Lavrov” at a Nato summit in Bucharest, she told reporters.

She said that the deal, which concerns “non-military freight”, like food, spare parts, fuel and transport vehicles, would probably be the only concrete element to come out of Friday’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

On an air transit agreement, which would allow Nato-led troops to fly to and from Afghanistan across Russian territory, the spokeswoman said: “I don’t see any concrete decision” on Friday.

On the eve of the so-called Nato-Russia Council, US-installed Afghan President Hamid Karzai said of the deal: “It is important, and if there is an agreement already on the transport of Nato supplies to Afghanistan through the Russian territory we are thankful for that for Russia.”

Nato leads the 47,000-strong International Security Assistance Force (Isaf), which is tasked with spreading the influence of Karzai’s weak central government across the country.

But five years after taking charge, the Isaf is struggling to defeat a tenacious Taliban-led rebellion, in part commanded from across the porous mountain border with Pakistan.

Meanwhile, President George W. Bush told Nato allies that the United States would send more troops to Afghanistan next year, Defence Secretary Robert Gates said on Friday.—AFP