New U.N. envoy seeks to coordinate Afghan efforts

By Wojciech Moskwa

OSLO (Reuters) - The new United Nations envoy to Afghanistan, Kai Eide, said on Saturday his top priority will be to better coordinate international development and aid efforts with the NATO-led military forces and Afghan authorities.

The Norwegian diplomat said more security in southern and eastern Afghanistan was needed to foster economic and social development, but that the solution to the war-torn state's problems was political, not military.

"We have seen for a long time that the international community is not coordinating efforts well enough -- the pieces do not fit together well as a result, and it's the Afghans who suffer first," Eide told Reuters in an interview.

Eide said he was encouraged by a U.N. focus on coordinating relief and nation-building efforts and expected "flexibility" from all players "to make the pieces fit together better".

"We all know that the solution to the challenges we face in Afghanistan cannot be a military one. The security component is important, but the solution must ultimately be political," said Eide from his corner office in Norway's foreign ministry.

Known as a behind-the-scenes deal maker without a high public profile, Eide was chosen for the post after Afghan President Hamid Karzai vetoed British Paddy Ashdown's appointment following media speculation about the extent of his powers and possible influence over the Afghan government.

But soft-talking, bespectacled Eide made clear he expected the Afghan side to do its part. "It is the Afghan authorities that have to take the leadership... Afghan ownership is important and there is Afghan ownership in this process."

"Our goal is to shape our development assistance in a way that engages Afghans in sustaining such efforts and gradually taking them over," said Eide, a former ambassador to NATO and the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE).