Russia warns U.S., NATO not to misuse Afghan mission

By Sayed Salahuddin

KABUL (Reuters) - Russia has warned the United States and NATO to not use their presence in Afghanistan for any possible regional political or economic purposes other than fighting terrorism.

More than 50,000 foreign troops under the command of NATO and the U.S. military are stationed in Afghanistan where the U.S.-led coalition overthrew a Taliban government in 2001.

"We see the military presence of armed forces of the United States of America and NATO ... in Afghanistan just in the framework of our common campaign against terrorism," Russia's Ambassador to Kabul Zamir Kabulov told the BBC Persian service.

"As long as this presence goes on for this end, we have no concern. But if the military presence is for other political or economic gains in Afghanistan and in the region, (then) this certainly and definitely will cause special concerns."

Russia, he told the station in an interview aired on Monday, will "definitely react" if NATO and the United States were after economic and political gains in Afghanistan and in the region.

He did not elaborate further. "May it not be that our partners have other programmes ... under the pretext of war against terrorism," he added.

Russia is the inheritor of the former Soviet Union, which had invaded Afghanistan in 1979, pulling its forces out some 10 years later in the face of determined resistance from mostly Western-backed Afghan factions.

Its ties were at their worst when the radical Islamic Taliban movement was in power and it backed Afghan opposition groups that helped the coalition with the Taliban's removal.

U.S.-led troops overthrew the Taliban government after it refused to hand over al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, the suspected mastermind of the September 11 attacks on America.

Since then, apart from Afghanistan, the United States has set up bases in several Central Asian states that are former colonies of Moscow and rich with natural resources.

The Kremlin is also opposed to the expansion of NATO in its former satellite states in Eastern Europe and has warned against the setting up of missile bases by the United States in the region.

NATO and the U.S. military say they will remain in Afghanistan until the Western-backed Afghan forces manage to stand on their own feet, but have not set a firm timetable for withdrawal of troops from the country.

(Editing by Jerry Norton)