Afghan leader appeals on forces

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Afghan President Hamid Karzai has appealed to Italy not to withdraw from Nato forces operating in his country.

He was speaking a day after the Italian government collapsed when parties opposed to troops in Afghanistan left the governing coalition.

Italy has 2,000 troops in Afghanistan as part of Nato's International Security Assistance Force (Isaf).

Mr Karzai also urged another key Nato contributor, Canada, to keep its troops in Afghanistan.

Last week a Canadian senate committee advised the government to withdraw from Afghanistan, unless other Nato allies agreed to commit more troops to the international mission.

"My message to the countries helping us in Afghanistan, to Canada, to Italy, is that the Afghan people, the Canadian people and the Italian people are in the same fight, a fight for the security of our lives today and tomorrow," Mr Karzai told reporters in Kabul.

Opposition

Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi has resigned after losing a key Senate vote on his foreign policy.

Several of his coalition partners had opposed Italian troop deployments in Afghanistan and plans to expand a US airbase in Italy.

US President George W Bush has called on other Nato members to step up their battle against Afghanistan's Taleban.

There are currently around 33,000 troops from 37 nations in Afghanistan. Their objective is to strengthen the remit of the weak central government and provide the necessary levels of security for reconstruction to take place.