Lisbon, Portugal (CNN) -- NATO and the Afghan government on Saturday forged a "long-term" partnership declaration -- an agreement that will leave international forces in the war-torn country for many years after a planned military transition in 2014.
"We will stay as long as it takes to finish our job," said Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO's secretary-general.
"NATO is in this for the long term. We will not transition until our Afghan partners are ready. We will stay, after transition, in a supporting role," he also said.
He and Afghan President Hamid Karzai signed the pact before reporters at the NATO summit in Lisbon. Along with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, they made remarks and took questions from reporters.
"Today marks the beginning of a new phase in our mission in Afghanistan. We will launch the process by which the Afghan government will take leadership for security throughout the country, district by district, province by province. The direction, starting today, is clear: towards Afghan leadership and Afghan ownership," Rasmussen said.
NATO, whose International Security Assistance Force has been battling insurgents for years in Afghanistan, will start transferring security leadership to Afghans next year, with a goal for Afghans to be in the lead by 2014.
CNN
