WASHINGTON, May 15: The US Central Command is preparing to establish a combined joint task force in Afghanistan, to be headed by the 18th Airborne Corps commander, Lieutenant General Daniel McNeill.

Gen McNeill will in effect be Central Command chief Gen Tommy Franks’ man in Afghanistan, and will assume responsibility for the majority of the forces currently in Afghanistan.

Whether the move has implications for a longer than anticipated stay of foreign troops in Afghanistan and for operations in regions bordering Afghanistan is not immediately clear.

This question was raised at the Pentagon briefing on Tuesday where the setting up of the new command structure was announced. Spokesperson Victoria Clarke simply said: “We have made it so clear every step of the way that we’ll stay as long as it takes to get the job done, but we have no desire to stay one day longer. And my sense of it is that we’re constantly assessing what’s the appropriate mix of people and resources, and this (the new command) is just a natural evolution in that process.”

PAKISTAN: There has been a lot of speculation here over the past few days about joint US-Pakistan operations in the tribal areas, with Islamabad said to be resisting the idea of such operations because of the popular sensitivities in the restive tribal belt. The issue figured again at Tuesday’s briefing, and the answer was the same as given by Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Monday — that Pakistan was cooperating in rounding up al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters who might have sought refuge in Pakistan.