U.S. seeks Australian commitment to defense ties

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SOMEWHERE OVER THE PACIFIC (Reuters) - The United States expects continuity from Australia's new government and a renewed commitment to their security alliance despite Canberra's plans for a partial withdrawal from Iraq, U.S. officials said.

By Kristin Roberts

SOMEWHERE OVER THE PACIFIC (Reuters) - The United States expects continuity from Australia's new government and a renewed commitment to their security alliance despite Canberra's plans for a partial withdrawal from Iraq, U.S. officials said.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates was on Friday headed for Australia where he will be the highest ranking Bush administration official to visit since Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's centre-left Labor Party won power in November.

Rudd's victory ended almost 12 years of conservative rule by John Howard, a close ally of U.S. President George W. Bush.

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"We anticipate there will be a great deal of continuity," Gates told reporters en route to Canberra for the annual Australia-U.S. ministerial consultations known as AUSMIN.

"Continuity doesn't mean that there might not be changes in tactic or changes in approach to certain problems," the Pentagon chief said.

Both Gates and the U.S. State Department's representative on the trip, Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte, praised Australia as a steadfast ally and partner in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

But other senior U.S. officials traveling to Canberra said the Rudd government needed to reaffirm its commitment to the security and defense relationship with Washington at the meetings on Saturday.

"The Rudd government is finding its feet," said one defense official. "There are a lot of things we need to hear from them about."

Australia will use the ministerial talks to raise concerns about the military strategy in Afghanistan, but will commit Australian forces to stay in Afghanistan long term.

Canberra and Washington agree on the need for more troops and trainers for the local security forces and both have pressured Europe to deliver more resources to that war zone.

Australia has 1,000 troops in Afghanistan as part of NATO's more than 40,000-strong force.

Australia's Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon said Canada's decision to withdraw its troops in 2011 was understandable, but underlined the need for NATO countries to commit more troops and lift restrictions on their operations.

"It just underscores again the need for us to make a collective effort to ensure that those underperforming NATO countries do more, and do more with less caveats," Fitzgibbon told reporters on Friday.

Australia is not a NATO member, but Fitzgibbon has said the NATO-led international operations in Afghanistan lack a coherent strategy, do not do enough to train Afghan troops, and do not do enough to stamp out Afghanistan's drug crops.

IRAQ ROLE IN FOCUS

On Iraq, the Rudd government has already broken with the Bush administration, promising to pull 500 of its 1,500 troops out. Gates said he understood the strain on Australia's troops and that the withdrawal would be done in consultation with top commanders on the ground.

"We're concerned about the stress on our own force," Gates said. "The Australians clearly are confronting that challenge themselves."

Australia also wants to shift the focus of its remaining force away from combat activities in Iraq, according to U.S. officials. That raises concern among some officials who questioned how that shift might impact security.

"I think their thinking is evolving," one U.S. official said of Australia's mission in Iraq. "The secretary (Gates) wants to know how Australia sees its role."

Gates and Negroponte will meet with Fitzgibbon on Saturday in three sessions.

The first session will be focused on the Middle East, Iraq and North Korea. Officials will discuss regional issues, including Chinese relations, in the second meeting. Bilateral relations will be the focus of the third meeting, U.S. officials said.

(Additional reporting by James Grubel; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)