Bratislava  - Kai Eide, the UN special representative to Afghanistan, expressed support Friday for the plans to secure and rebuild that country proposed by the NATO chief and the US and allied commander.

Eide was speaking at a news conference in the Slovak capital during a meeting of defence ministers of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Eide also voiced confidence that preparations for a second round of presidential elections in Afghanistan, scheduled for November 7, are on track. The fact that a second round is being held, he said, is an indication of the success of the electoral process.

Eide outlined an approach to bringing stability to Afghanistan that touched on many of the same themes outlined recently by NATO General Secretary Anders Fogh Rasmussen and US General Stanley A. McChrystal, the commander of the US and allied forces in Afghanistan.

This includes not only foreign troops but also greater attention to institution-building and infrastructure, training of Afghan forces and creation of a government in which the Afghan people can have confidence.

"I do believe that additional international troops will be needed immediately ahead ... not least for increased cooperation with the Afghan forces," Eide said. "Some nations are carrying that out well today, most are not. And we have to look at the way we cooperate with Afghan forces."

The fact that there will be second presidential vote in Afghanistan, Eide said, "proved the constitutional processes worked the way they should."

He added that in a second round, those staff who worked in polling stations where there was significant fraud would not be re-recruited.

Eide said that a second round would be easier to conduct because there are now only two candidates - incumbent Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah - rather than the original 41. But acknowledged that it will be a difficult to overcome the lack of trust many Afghans have in their government.

"The confidence gap that exists between the Afghan people and the government is something we must all take seriously," Eide said. We cannot change this, but we believe that we are at a turning point." (dpa)