NATO to plan for all options in Afghanistan, including 'zero option'

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO defence ministers agreed on Thursday to plan for all options for the alliance's future presence in Afghanistan, including a possible pullout of all its troops this year, NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said.

NATO has been planning to keep a slimmed-down force in Afghanistan after 2014 to train and assist Afghan forces, but NATO and U.S. officials say President Hamid Karzai's refusal to sign a security agreement with the United States could force it to pull out all its troops by the end of the year.