Not quite so forgotten now?
Quote:
Rudd in surprise Afghanistan visit
From correspondents in Kabul
December 23, 2007 01:26am
Article from: Agence France-Presse
* Australia in Afghanistan 'for the long haul'
* Rudd meets Diggers based in Uruzgan province
* Rudd meets President Hamid Karzai in Kabul
AUSTRALIA is in Afghanistan for the "long haul", Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said on a surprise visit to the country, which is battling an intensifying insurgency led by Taliban extremists.
Rudd held talks with President Hamid Karzai hours after French President Nicolas Sarkozy also made an unannounced visit to meet his soldiers with a NATO-led force of nearly 40 nations helping to fight extremism.
"One of the messages I delivered to His Excellency the president today is that Australia is here in Afghanistan for a long haul," Mr Rudd said.
. . .
Rudd's new government had warned NATO and its allies that they would lose the war against hardline Taliban forces unless they urgently changed tactics.
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Rudd in surprise Afghanistan visit | NEWS.com.au
