Italian's Prodi makes unannounced visit to Afghanistan (Roundup)

Dec 23, 2007, 13:49 GMT

Kabul - Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi arrived Sunday in Kabul on an unannounced visit and met with his Afghan counterpart and Italian troops in the war-torn country, officials said.

Prodi met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in his presidential palace and assured him of his government's long-term support.

Both leaders assessed the recent achievements in Afghanistan and praised progress in areas including health, education, energy and foreign private investment, a presidential statement said.

Italy is one of the biggest donors of the post-Taliban Afghan government and is the lead nation in the reform of Afghanistan's judicial system.

Also in Kabul, Prodi met the top commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in the country, General Dan McNeill, before flying to western province of Herat, where he met Italian troops serving under the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, ISAF said in a statement.

Italy has deployed around 2,400 soldiers to Afghanistan as part of 41,000 troops working under the banner of the 39-nation ISAF. Most of the Italian soldiers are stationed in relatively peaceful western province of Herat and some around Kabul.

Prodi's visit came a day after the leaders of France and Australia, who both visited Afghanistan on Sunday and reassured their 'long-haul' commitments to the Afghan government.

The visits by Western leaders come at the end of the bloodiest year since the ouster of the Taliban regime in late 2001. More than 6,200 people have been killed in Afghanistan this year.