London  - Afghanistan remains the "number one priority" for NATO but its troops will not stay in the country forever, the organization's secretary general said Tuesday.

Speaking to delegates of the NATO parliamentary assembly in Edinburgh, Scotland, NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen repeated his appeal for more combat troops and trainers to be sent to Afghanistan.

"To my mind it is obvious - that if we were to walk away and turn our backs on Afghanistan, al-Qaeda would be back in a flash," said Rasmussen, according to the Press Association.

He urged NATO members to build on the progress already made to create a secure region while new strategies were being worked out.

"Don't make any mistake. We will stay in Afghanistan as long as it takes to finish our job - but that is, of course, not forever," said Rasmussen.

But he warned: "If we were to walk away, the pressure on nuclear-armed Pakistan would be tremendous. Instability would spread throughout central Asia and it would only be a matter of time until all our nations and all our citizens would feel the consequences."

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, addressing the same meeting, advocated a coherent approach to the conflict that would combine a "clear military strategy" with a "political surge."

"Our goal is not a fight to the death. This is not a war without end," said Miliband, reinforcing a call by Prime Minister Gordon Brown late Monday for a "clear timetable" to be set for the transfer of security authority to Afghan forces in certain districts of the war-torn country.

Increasing British calls for an "exit strategy" for Afghanistan have been linked to growing public pressure on the government over the rising death toll.

A total of 234 British soldiers have died in Afghanistan since 2001 - half of them in the last 12 months alone.(dpa)