Also on Friday, Secretary General Rasmussen said the NATO defense ministers agreed to begin a process of identifying criteria for an eventual handover of security responsibility to Afghan forces.

VOA: standard.2009.10.23

The Obama administration says it counseled the Karzai government against allowing the return of General Dostum, whose reputation threatens to cast a pall over the country's critical election process to which the United States has lent heavy support.

VOA: standard.2009.08.17