NATO to keep rotating command in Afghan south

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - NATO will continue to rotate command of its troops in the violent South of Afghanistan despite U.S. generals' concerns that the arrangement disrupts operations, the Pentagon said on Wednesday.

To minimize problems caused by the changeovers, each nation with major troop contingents in the South will take command for one year rather than the current nine months, Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell told reporters.

The announcement appeared to end a debate within NATO that some diplomats saw as an attempt by the United States to take charge of southern Afghanistan, the scene of the heaviest fighting between allied troops and Taliban insurgents.

The new arrangement does mean the United States will command NATO forces in the South -- but not until late 2010. The Netherlands and Britain will each have a year in charge first after Canada's command ends this November.

"We believe this new arrangement -- and our allies clearly do as well, because they've agreed to it -- will provide greater predictability, continuity, stability in this volatile but vitally important region of Afghanistan," Morrell said.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates agreed the new arrangement with his Dutch and British counterparts, he said.

Earlier on Wednesday, U.S. Army Gen. Dan McNeill, the commander of the 50,000-strong NATO-led force in Afghanistan, said he favored talks to end the rotating command in Regional Command South, also known as RC-South.

McNeill said Afghan security forces had trouble adapting to different commands with different ways of operating.

"It is sometimes a little difficult for them to change from one culture to the next," he said.

U.S. Army Gen. John Craddock, NATO's top operational commander, had also made clear he backed ending the rotation.

"Gen. McNeill and Gen. Craddock are certainly entitled to their opinions on this but we work with allies in RC-South and throughout the country and we take their considerations into account," Morrell said.

Losing a command role would have been a blow to the prestige of any nation, particularly as the Afghan mission -- and its toll in casualties -- is politically controversial in many countries which contribute troops.

The United States has deployed more than 2,000 Marines to the South this year and is expected to shift some forces from eastern to southern Afghanistan later this year, giving Washington greater influence in operations there.

Gates said earlier this month it was "certainly worth taking a look at" whether the United States should take command of the South but Washington would consult closely with allies.

(Additional reporting by Mark John in Brussels; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)