Rasmussen emphasized the need to show the Afghan people and non-NATO troop contributors to the NATO-led international force "more light at the end of the tunnel."

He said NATO needs help from other actors to succeed in Afghanistan.

"We can't do it alone. This has to be an international team effort -- military and civilian -- with more efforts from the Afghans themselves as well," he said.

On Kosovo, Rasmussen said the NATO-led troops there (KFOR) could be significantly reduced or even completely withdrawn by the end of his four-year term.

It is the first time that the alliance has indicated a timeline for the complete withdrawal of KFOR, which has been in Kosovo since 1999 after NATO airstrikes drove out Serbian forces from the region.

"On Kosovo, my aim is clear: by the end of my term, I want to see KFOR reduced to just a small reaction force, or out altogether," said Rasmussen, adding "We should not stumble so close to the finish line. But I believe that conditions will in the foreseeable future be right to retire KFOR with success."

NATO defense ministers decided in June to significantly scale down KFOR. Currently, the first phase of reduction is in process as each phase must be decided by the decision-making North Atlantic Council based on military advices.

The target to reduce KFOR to 10,000 by January 2010 from about 14,000 at present is still within reach, NATO spokesman James Appathurai told reporters last Wednesday.

Rasmussen's predecessor Jaap de Hoop Scheffer had repeatedly refused to give a deadline for the complete withdrawal of KFOR, saying the troops would be there as long as necessary.

NATO defense ministers envisaged a three-phase reduction within a time frame of two years starting from the activation of the first reduction. The final number they were looking at was around 2,200 troops, according to NATO officials.

Meanwhile, Rasmussen refused to be drawn into a controversy that put his country in crisis with the Muslim world back in 2005 with the publication of 12 editorial cartoons, most of which depicted the Prophet Muhammad.

Rasmussen said he considered the incident as a matter of the past. But he emphasized the need to enhance cooperation with NATO's Middle East partners, the so-called Mediterranean Dialogue countries.

He said he will arrange individual meetings with each and every ambassador from the seven countries, namely Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia.

Rasmussen's hardline attitude toward the cartoons controversy sparked criticisms from the Muslim world and became an obstacle to his appointment as NATO chief.

Turkey, a mainly Muslim country, finally dropped its opposition after it was assured of senior posts in the alliance.

Rasmussen said Monday that he would do his utmost to deliver the promises. Turkey and Greece will be the two countries where he will pay his maiden visits in his capacity as NATO secretary general.

Most importantly, his first practical move as NATO chief was the appointment of a 12-member expert group to work on NATO's new strategic concept, a guideline document for all activities of the organization.

The experts, which will be chaired by former U.S. secretary of state Madeleine Albright, will submit their conclusions to Rasmussen before consulting widely both within and outside NATO.

Rasmussen will then lead negotiations with all NATO member countries. An agreed text will be adopted at NATO's next summit, which is expected to be held in late 2010 in Lisbon.

NATO's current strategic concept was adopted in 1999. At their summit in April 2009, leaders of NATO countries deemed it necessary to rewrite the document as the alliance faces new security threats.

(Xinhua News Agency August 4, 2009)