U.N. evacuates foreign staff from Afghanistan


U.N. evacuates foreign staff from Afghanistan

By Jonathon Burch and Yara Bayoumy

KABUL (Reuters) – The United Nations said on Thursday it would
evacuate hundreds of its international staff from Afghanistan for
several weeks due to deteriorating security, a sharp blow for Western
efforts to stabilize the country.

Spokesman Aleem Siddique said the United Nations would relocate about
600 of its roughly 1,100 international staff, with some being moved to
safer sites within Afghanistan and the rest withdrawn from the country
temporarily.

The move, a week after five U.N. foreign staff were killed by
militants in Kabul, complicates President Barack Obama's
counter-insurgency war strategy, which foresees an influx of civilian
assistance alongside extra troops.

Obama is due to decide within weeks whether to approve a request from
his commander in Afghanistan for tens of thousands of additional
troops. U.S. forces in Afghanistan have already doubled in the nine
months since Obama took office.



The tainted election has hurt Karzai's standing among Western nations
with troops fighting in Afghanistan, making Obama's decision about
whether to send more troops even more difficult.
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