Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen sign a declaration between Nato and the Afghan government on enduring partnership, as UN General Secretary Ban ki-Moon , centre, looks on at the Nato summit in Lisbon, Portugal Saturday Nov 20 2010. - Photo by AP.

LISBON: Nato leaders endorsed on Saturday a plan to start handing Afghan forces command of the war next year with the aim of ceding full control by 2014.

“We have launched the process by which the Afghan people will once again become masters in their own house,” Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told a news conference following a summit of Allied leaders.

Afghan forces will start taking the lead in security operations next year starting in some districts and provinces, and gradually spreading throughout the country, he said.

“The aim is for Afghan forces to be in the lead countrywide by the end of 2014,” the Nato chief said after signing the plan along with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

Rasmussen promised the Alliance would stand by Afghanistan even after the transition.

“We will stay after transition in a supporting role,” he said.

“President Karzai and I have signed an agreement on a long term partnership between Nato and Afghanistan that will endure beyond our combat mission,” he added.

“To put it simply, if the Taliban or anyone else aim to wait us out, they can forget it. We will stay as long at it takes to finish our job.”