UK diplomat named NATO's Afghanistan civilian chief

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO named a senior British diplomat to be its civilian representative in Afghanistan on Tuesday, saying it hoped the appointment would lead to better coordination with the U.S.-driven military operation.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen named Mark Sedwill, currently Britain's ambassador to Kabul, as his civilian chief on the ground, a move that coincides with an overhaul of strategy and operations in the 8-year Afghan war.

Sedwill, based in Kabul since early 2009, will liaise with the commander of the NATO-led force in Afghanistan, U.S. General Stanley McChrystal, and coordinate with him on the implementation of civilian aid and development.

The decision is part of a plan to raise the profile and efficiency of civilian efforts in the country, alongside the 110,000-strong military mission that will be expanding rapidly in 2010 with the arrival of 30,000 more U.S. troops.

Sedwill's appointment comes two days before a conference in London to discuss Afghanistan's future and try to generate support for President Hamid Karzai, who is struggling to rein in corruption and demonstrate authority.

"One of the big challenges will be to strengthen the organization and coordination of the civilian assistance to Afghanistan," Rasmussen said of Sedwill as he unveiled his appointment at NATO headquarters on Tuesday.

"We need a reinforced interaction between the military effort and our civilian reconstruction and development."

RESPECT

Sedwill, a former deputy high commissioner in Pakistan and a United Nations weapons inspector in Iraq in the mid-1990s, has developed broad contacts in Afghanistan in his year there, gaining respect among Afghan leaders and foreign diplomats.

As well as trying to coordinate better the delivery of aid and development to Afghan civilians -- something policymakers hope will keep susceptible people away from supporting the Taliban -- Sedwill will have to direct the non-military work of the 43 nations involved in the NATO-overseen operation.

"There is a great deal to do in Afghanistan over the next year to bring together the military, political and civilian efforts in support of the government of Afghanistan to really turn around the campaign," he said on Tuesday.

"We need to regain the initiative against the insurgency, strengthen the Afghan institutions, military and civilian, and tackle some of those underlying political tensions at all levels that fuel the insurgency."

One of the main discussions at the London conference on Thursday will be the "reintegration" of Taliban fighters into mainstream Afghan society, a program that will combine economic support and community rebuilding to try to draw the sting out of an insurgency that has been gaining strength.

Sedwill sidestepped suggestions that he would be leading a civilian "surge" to mirror the ramping up of military force on the ground, and said part of his role would be ensuring the Afghan government took on greater responsibility.

"This will be lead by the United Nations," he said of the aid and development side of the strategy. "And really we will be looking to the Afghan government itself to develop more leadership and more capability.

"We all understand that security is only really the first step. If we are really to stabilize Afghanistan, and win over the Afghan people so that they genuinely support the legitimate authorities of Afghanistan, we have to help those authorities develop the capability to deliver real governance."

(Additional reporting by Adrian Croft in London; writing by Luke Baker; editing by Janet Lawrence)