On his first day at work, the ex-Danish premier said that while the alliance wanted to ultimately transfer security responsibilty to the Afghan government, there could be no question of the alliance rushing for the exit door.

Speaking to reporters, the new secretary-general said that troops serving in what is NATO's biggest ever mission would help prevent Afghanistan from "becoming again a grand central station of international terrorism."

Around 90,000 foreign troops are currently stationed in Afghanistan to counter an insurgency by the Taliban against the government of President Hamid Karzai.

The Islamist militia has stepped up its attacks in the countdown to national elections on August 20, their latest bombing killing 12 people on Monday in the western city of Herat.

Seventy-five foreign soldiers were killed last month according to the independent www.icasualties.org website, making July the deadliest month for troops since the US-led invasion.

Rasmussen said that the long-term goal was to "move forward concretely and visibly with transferring lead security responsibilty in Afghanistan to the Afghans."

"I believe during my term Afghans must take over lead responsibility for security in most of their country," he added.

But any suggestion that such a strategy amounted to cut and run was pure propaganda, he added.

"Let me be clear. NATO must and will be there in support. Let no Taliban propaganda try to sell my message as a run for exit. It is not," he said.

"We will support Afghan people as long as its takes."

In a weekend newspaper interview, the 56-year-old said that he would support dialogue with moderates within the Taliban.

The Islamist militia had ruled Afghanistan until late 2001 but it was toppled by US-led forces after it refused to hand over Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in the wake of the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington.

Rasmussen's comments about engaging with moderates echoed recent statements by the foreign ministers of France and Britain who have argued that it is time to engage with Taliban willing to renounce violence.

The new secretary-general, who is succeeding Dutch diplomat Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, will also have to help rekindle icy ties with Russia, still seething that a Cold War foe is closing in on its borders, and ensure that thousands of NATO troops are eased out of Kosovo without re-igniting the ethnic tinderbox.

A deft hand will also be required to breathe new life into the NATO-Russia Council, the forum where Moscow and the alliance cooperate and air their many differences, amid deep tensions over the war in Georgia a year ago.

On the diplomatic side, Rasmussen has to earn the trust of the Muslim world after Turkey initially objected to his candidacy following the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in the Danish press.

Ankara will insist he make good on a pledge to develop a dialogue with the Muslim world during his four-year tenure as NATO's top civilian official.

earlier related report
British soldier court-martialled for Afghanistan refusal
A British soldier faced his court-martial Monday for refusing to return to Afghanistan as the armed forces minister insisted that the fight against the Taliban was improving Afghan lives.

Lance Corporal Joe Glenton, from the Royal Logistic Corps, is the first soldier to have very publicly deserted rather than take up arms again in Afghanistan.

His trial comes as the surging British death toll in Afghanistan raises questions about Britain's involvement in the conflict and turns up the pressure on Prime Minister Gordon Brown's government.

Glenton wore military fatigues for a preliminary hearing at a military court in Bulford Camp near Salisbury in southwest England. His lawyer indicated that he would plead not guilty.

Judge Advocate Alastair McGrigor adjourned the case for another preliminary hearing on September 4. Glenton faces a maximum of two years' imprisonment.

The lance corporal, who did not speak at the hearing, was to return to duties with his regiment.

The 27-year-old on Thursday handed in a letter to Brown's office calling for troops to be withdrawn from Afghanistan, saying Britain's mission there would fail.

Glenton joined the British Army in 2004 and served one tour of duty in Afghanistan. He went absent without leave in 2007 before handing himself in after two years and six days.

He was then on leave until Monday.

In his letter to Brown, Glenton -- who has joined the Stop the War Coalition, a prominent left-wing umbrella organisation regularly staging protests -- said Britain was bringing "death and devastation" to Afghanistan.

The campaign "has caused immeasurable suffering not only to families of British service personnel who have been killed and injured, but also to the noble people of Afghanistan," he wrote. "Britain has no business there."

British forces in Afghanistan have suffered their highest casualty rate since the US-led invasion of the country in late 2001.

Twenty-two soldiers were killed in July fighting Taliban insurgents in the southern Helmand province, as British troops waged the attack phase of Operation Panther's Claw, beating back the extremists ahead of elections on August 20.

The situation has prompted opposition parties to claim the government is failing to provide proper equipment for the armed forces.

The political row has been deepened by a legal battle by the government to cut the compensation awarded to two injured soldiers.

An aide to Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth, lawmaker Eric Joyce, hit out against the move Sunday, saying success for the Ministry of Defence in the controversial legal bid would be "a victory for bureaucracy over bravery" and called for it to be dropped.

But government sources do not expect him to lose his job, while a spokeswoman for Brown's office declined to comment on "differences between the way different people are expressing themselves."

The government has brought forward a review of the compensation scheme.

Meanwhile, Britain's armed forces minister Bill Rammell -- fresh back from Afghanistan -- insisted that British troops were making a difference.

He said British forces were denying hardcore Islamists a safe haven to operate from, and Panther's Claw had succeeded in clearing the Taliban from central Helmand.

"We have inflicted heavy losses on the insurgents, decimating their command and control structure, weakening their resolve, and splitting them up," he said in a speech.

"Ultimately it will be the politics of development, reconstruction and reintegration that will bring lasting stability to the region -- no place for the terrorists to hide -- and no reason for people to hide them."

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