UN envoy Peter Galbraith recalled from Afghanistan; President Obama held meeting with key aides in the administration to review Afghanistan strategy; President Obama and NATO chief call Afghan war a multinational effort
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    • President Obama met with key aides including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Defence Secretary Robert Gates, National Security Adviser Gen. James Jones, Special Envoy Richard Holbrooke, heads of the CIA and the FBI, Gen. Casey, Gen. Petraeus, Gen. McChrystal (through a secure videoconference call), among others, to review the situation in Afghanistan. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters that Mr. Obama would be holding as many as five such meetings over the course of the next several weeks to arrive at decisions regarding prosecuting the war in that country, including on the question of increasing troop strengths1.

    NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen also met with Mr. Obama. The US President told reporters that the war in Afghanistan was a multinational effort aimed at fighting the Taliban and al-Qaeda terrorists. Rasmussen on his part stressed that Afghanistan was "not America's burden alone. It is, and it will remain, a team effort2."

    At least 30 people were killed when a roadside bomb exploded in the southern province of Kandahar on September 29. The Afghan Interior Ministry stated that the dead included 10 children, 7 women and 13 men3.

    Pentagon spokesman Goeff Morrell urged cooperation from Afghanistan’s neighbours – including Iran, Pakistan, and India, to help stabilize the situation in Afghanistan. Morell acknowledged that the Indian government has provided a lot of financial assistance to Kabul, which “is clearly needed…4'

    In other developments, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon recalled one of the senior UN officials working in the country, Peter Galbraith, "in the best interest of the mission." Reports noted that Galbraith had developed differences and earned the displeasure of incumbent President Karzai when he called for a complete vote recount. Ban however reaffirmed his “full support for his special representative, Kai Eide5."

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