The Canadian prime minister delivered a similar message on Wednesday (January 30) to U.S. President George W. Bush.

In Washington, Richard Boucher, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs, told a Senate committee hearing that the greatest threat to Afghanistan's future is abandonment of the country by the international community.

Boucher told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that success in stabilizing Afghanistan is possible but not yet assured, and he said more assistance is needed from NATO and the international community.



U.S. Asks Germany To Send More Troops To Afghanistan

Also today, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has asked Germany to send more troops to Afghanistan.

A German newspaper ("Sueddeutsche Zeitung") said Gates had sent what it described as an "unusually stern" letter to German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung.

A Defense Ministry spokesman confirmed the report but declined to go into details.

Germany currently has 3,200 troops in Afghanistan, most of them based in the relatively calm north.

Gates reportedly requested that Germany send additional troops, with some deployed to the more dangerous south.

There have been growing strains between NATO allies over the Afghan mission. The United States has about 26,000 soldiers in Afghanistan and early this year said it will send an additional 3,200 troops.

(Agencies)