By Jacquelyn S. Porth
Washington File Security Affairs Writer

Washington -- After meeting May 1 with his key military advisors in Kabul and with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said there has been a shift "from major combat activity to a period of ... stabilization and reconstruction" in Afghanistan

Most of Afghanistan is now secure, the secretary said, although he indicated "there are still pockets of resistance in certain parts of the country." The stable security environment is engendering confidence among Afghan exiles, he said, who are now "voting with their feet" and returning home from around the world. "That's a good thing," he said, and Karzai emphasized that those who are returning are doing so "in large numbers."

Rumsfeld also talked about the Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) that he said "have been very well-received in the three locations where they've started." He described the PRTs as country teams that will contribute to important sectors such as security, transportation and medicine. "We're hopeful that as we're able to attract other countries to participate," he said, "that we'll find additional PRTs moving out and contributing to an improved circumstance for the Afghan people."

During a brief media availability with Karzai, Rumsfeld thanked the Afghan president for his leadership and cooperation in the global war on terrorism. Questioned about what some perceive as a deteriorating security situation outside the capital environs, the secretary said, "We'll expect that there'll be flare-ups from time to time, and as they occur, they'll be dealt with." He made reference to the ebb and flow of the security situation in some locales, adding, "we won't expect that things will be perfectly level."

Rumsfeld also pointed out that the United States will still be working with the Afghan government and its new National Army to ensure that where resistance is found to Karzai's government or coalition forces it "will be dealt with promptly and efficiently."

Asked to compare the security situations in Afghanistan and Iraq, Rumsfeld described the difference between the two as "notable." The size of coalition ground forces in Afghanistan, he said, is "relatively modest." A security problem there, he said, is dealing with the country's "porous borders."

In Iraq, the secretary said, coalition forces were acting against an organized army "as opposed to a terrorist situation." With sizable numbers of coalition ground forces in Iraq, Rumsfeld said, "We are hopeful -- with our coalition partners -- (to) begin the process relatively soon of shifting our weight somewhat (from security functions to stabilization)." The security situation across Iraq will not be uniform, he added, varying from province to province.

Rumsfeld's comments came as U.S. forces faced small arms fire in different incidents in Baghdad and the town of Fallujah. The existing military rules of engagement for U.S. forces allow them to return fire in self-defense.

Rumsfeld's trip to Afghanistan follows his brief visit to Iraq April 30. He pre-recorded a message to the Iraqi people for broadcast May 1 over Iraqi radio emphasizing that the military coalition "has no intention of owning or running Iraq." Coalition action had only one purpose, he said: "to remove a regime that oppressed your people and threatened ours."

Now the goal is to restore stability and security so that an interim, freely chosen government can be formed, Rumsfeld said. "The coalition will stay as long as necessary to help you do that," he added, "and not one day longer." The secretary's message was to be re-broadcast on Iraqi television.

Rumsfeld visited U.S. and British soldiers in Basra and Baghdad just six weeks after the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq. While in the Iraqi capital to witness liberation first hand, he visited an electrical power facility where Iraqis and American military engineers are working together to repair much needed infrastructure.

In interview earlier in the week with a Middle East Broadcasting correspondent, Rumsfeld rejected the assertion made by some that the United States intends to establish permanent military bases in Iraq. "We're not," he said when asked about establishing future bases.

The use of Iraqi air bases and port facilities by coalition forces and other countries, Rumsfeld said, is strictly for the humanitarian purpose of bringing in food, water and medicine. He also pointed out that with the removal of the former Iraqi regime, "the United States needs fewer bases...fewer people, not more."

Meanwhile, the U.S Central Command (CENTCOM) reported April 30 that the former governor of Basra surrendered. Walid Hamid Tawfiq al-Tikriti was on CENTCOM's list of top 55 Most Wanted members of the Saddam Hussein regime.