Spain sets five-year target for Afghan withdrawal

Spanish Defense Minister Carme Chacon said on Wednesday that she hoped the country would be able to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan within five years.

The remarks followed Spain's recent announcement that it would send another 220 soldiers to the Central Asian country to help in the continued struggle against the Taliban.

The reinforcement will be ratified by the Spanish parliament on Friday despite criticism from the opposition Popular Party.

Speaking on Cadena Ser radio, Chacon also tried to put a time limit on the deployment. "We need to fix times and a horizon to say that we will have achieved our objective in less than five years."

"That timescale seems reasonable to Spain," said the minister, who stressed the peacekeeping mission of the Spanish troops in Afghanistan.

"They will be involved in the establishment of stability, development and reconstruction of the country. We want the next elections in the country to be set up by Afghans themselves," she said, before making reference to accusations of fraud hanging over the Aug. 20 Afghan presidential elections.

"We hope that the Complaints Commission will eliminate those votes that appear to be false. We are waiting to see whether or not there will be a second round of voting," said Chacon.

With votes from 91.6 percent polling stations already counted, incumbent Afghan President Hamid Karzai has won 54.1 percent of the vote, moving closer to winning re-election, the Afghan Independent Election Commission announced on Tuesday.

Karzai major rival Abdullah Abdullah has garnered 28.3 percent of the vote.

Karzai needs to receive over 50 percent of support to avoid a run-off.