KABUL - NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has said an international military presence in Afghanistan beyond 20014 is essential, but the alliance is simultaneously planning for a troop pullout.

He told journalists in Munich on Saturday that the NATO presence in Afghanistan remained critical to future stability. "I have not used the term zero option, I think I have explicitly stressed that it's not an option, but it might be an unfortunate outcome."

According to the American news agency Associated Press (AP), Rasmussen hoped Kabul would concluded the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) with Washington on the continued stay of American troops.

President Hamid Karzai himself was unlikely to sign the deal, but his successor would do so, the secretary general believed. He warned of serious problems for Afghanistan if the accord was not signed.

If foreign troops left, Afghanistan would find it difficult receiving global financial assistance needed to support its security personnel. "If they don't get that assistance, how can they afford to pay salaries?" he asked.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has about 57,000 soldiers in Afghanistan, including two-thirds from the United States.  Afghanistan’s annual foreign aid is estimated at $8 billion. (Pajhwok)