UK's Cameron: 2015 Afghanistan pullout is final



LONDON // Prime Minister David Cameron insisted Thursday that British troops will quit their combat role in Afghanistan by 2015, whatever the security conditions or progress made in tackling insurgents.

Ahead of a NATO summit in Lisbon on Friday, Cameron told a committee hearing with senior lawmakers that the deadline for the majority of Britain's 10,000 forces to withdraw was not negotiable.

"Britain by 2015 will have played a huge role, made a massive contribution, made massive sacrifices for a better, safer and stronger Afghanistan, and I think the British public deserve to know that there is an endpoint to all this," Cameron said.

Giving evidence to Parliament's liaison committee - a panel of the 33 heads of each of the other committees - Cameron insisted he would not waver on the decision. "That is why I set the deadline of 2015, and yes it is a deadline," he said.

Cameron was making his first appearance before the panel, which conducts two lengthy evidence sessions each year with the incumbent prime minister to scrutinise policy on a range of issues.

Since taking office in May, Cameron said his government had scaled back British ambitions in Afghanistan and acknowledged the dangers of waning public support.

He told the panel that shortly after taking office he called in experts from outside government to review Britain's role - including former special forces director Lt. Gen. Graeme Lamb, lawmaker and ex-diplomat Rory Stewart and Paddy Ashdown, a House of Lords legislator and former UN High Representative for Bosnia.

Cameron said there "wasn't time for a great strategic rethink," but that the session had led to a subtle revision of Britain's approach to the conflict.

"Since then it's been much more national-security-focused, more hardheaded in its approach ... and a bit more realistic about what's achievable," he told politicians.

Britain's previous administration had been more active in supporting efforts to improve health care and education, alongside security.

Cameron declined to say specifically whether the US and other allies, including Britain, are in dispute over political reconciliation in Afghanistan. He said he would talk "candidly as friends" with the U.S. over its reservations about Taliban fighters joining the country's politics, rather than comment in public.

Decisions over how to strike peace with the Taliban were for the Afghan government to make, but "most counter-insurgencies end through a combination of force of arms and a political settlement," Cameron said.

He told politicians he had spoken on Thursday with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in advance of the NATO summit in Portugal.

"The idea that there's some great disagreement between countries in the alliance about the combination of military success and political settlement - I don't think that's the case at all," Cameron said.

Cameron also defended his four-year package of spending cuts worth 81 billion pounds ($128 billion) announced last month to tackle Britain's budget deficit.

Cameron said he was forced to intervene personally between the defense ministry and treasury to strike an agreement on an eight per cent cut to the annual 37 billion pound ($59 billion) military budget.

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8 traditional Jamaican dishes to try at Kingston 21

  1. Trench Town Rock: Jamaican-style curry goat served in a pastry basket with a carrot and potato garnish
  2. Rock Steady Jerk Chicken: chicken marinated for 24 hours and slow-cooked on the grill
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  4. Ackee and salt fish: the national dish of Jamaica makes for a hearty breakfast
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Moment of the day Dimuth Karunaratne had batted with plenty of pluck, and no little skill, in getting to within seven runs of a first-day century. Then, while he ran what he thought was a comfortable single to mid-on, his batting partner Dinesh Chandimal opted to stay at home. The opener was run out by the length of the pitch.

Stat of the day – 1 One six was hit on Day 1. The boundary was only breached 18 times in total over the course of the 90 overs. When it did arrive, the lone six was a thing of beauty, as Niroshan Dickwella effortlessly clipped Mohammed Amir over the square-leg boundary.

The verdict Three wickets down at lunch, on a featherbed wicket having won the toss, and Sri Lanka’s fragile confidence must have been waning. Then Karunaratne and Chandimal's alliance of precisely 100 gave them a foothold in the match. Dickwella’s free-spirited strokeplay meant the Sri Lankans were handily placed at 227-4 at the close.

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FFP EXPLAINED

What is Financial Fair Play?
Introduced in 2011 by Uefa, European football’s governing body, it demands that clubs live within their means. Chiefly, spend within their income and not make substantial losses.

What the rules dictate? 
The second phase of its implementation limits losses to €30 million (Dh136m) over three seasons. Extra expenditure is permitted for investment in sustainable areas (youth academies, stadium development, etc). Money provided by owners is not viewed as income. Revenue from “related parties” to those owners is assessed by Uefa's “financial control body” to be sure it is a fair value, or in line with market prices.

What are the penalties? 
There are a number of punishments, including fines, a loss of prize money or having to reduce squad size for European competition – as happened to PSG in 2014. There is even the threat of a competition ban, which could in theory lead to PSG’s suspension from the Uefa Champions League.