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British foreign minister William Hague said on Tuesday British troops in Afghanistan would have withdrawn from any combat role within five years.Concerns about the costly NATO-led Afghan mission have mounted as governments slash spending to rein in budget deficits, and as the death toll has risen. June was the deadliest month for foreign troops in the nine-year conflict."The prime minister is very clear ... that there will not be British troops in a combat role, or significant numbers, in Afghanistan, in five years time," Foreign Secretary William Hague told parliament, adding that he wanted Afghan security forces to assume more responsibility within that timeframe.He said that timeline was internationally agreed at the meeting of the Group of Eight leaders in Canada last month.Hague told BBC radio last week that Afghanistan should be able to stand alone by 2014.Defence Secretary Liam Fox last month told a Washington thinktank that Britain, which has 9,500 troops in Afghanistan, should not leave before "the job is finished" and premature withdrawal would be a betrayal of sacrifices made by the army.Like Hague, he also said that Afghanistan, where foreign and Afghan troops are fighting a Taliban insurgency, should take increasing responsibility for its own security by 2015; but his comments suggested a more open-ended campaign.Prime Minister David Cameron and Hague appear to be urging a more definite timeline for withdrawal, prompting media speculation of a division over strategy.Ministers have denied any split.(Reporting by Adrian Croft, writing by Mohammed Abbas: Editing by xxx)
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