NATO held a summit in 2014 to prepare for the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan

The North Atlantic Alliance (NATO) will hold a summit in 2014 to prepare for the withdrawal of international troops in Afghanistan, to be completed by the end of this year, announced on Friday, U.S. President Barack Obama. Obama made ​​the announcement after meeting in the Oval Office of the White House with Secretary General of NATO, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, with whom he discussed the transition in Afghanistanand other security issues. The last NATO summit held in Chicago (USA) in May 2012 and is not yet defined which city will host the event in 2014. Rasmussen said he and Obama discussed the planning for 2014, when NATO troops will be devoted to "train and advise" to Afghan forces, he noted. United States in Afghanistan currently maintains more than 60,000 soldiers , who are part of the international mission led by NATO in that country (ISAF), which should culminate in late 2014 to transfer full security responsibilities to Afghan forces. Last February, in his speech on the State of the Union, Obama announced that year reduced by half the number of troops in Afghanistan, with the release of 34,000 military until next February, and confirmed that the occupation will end in late 2014, as planned. What Obama is not yet clear how many U.S. troops will remain in Afghanistan beyond 2014 and what will be its role in the framework of bilateral security pact signed in May 2012. According to Obama, in his conversation with Rasmussen also discussed Libya , where NATO intervened militarily in 2011 to overthrow the regime of Muammar Gaddafi, and stressed the importance of remaining "strong partners" in North Africa.