Brussels - NATO's new secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, visited Afghanistan on Wednesday on just his third working day in his new job, the alliance said.

Rasmussen, formerly Denmark's prime minister, was set to meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai, the head of NATO's military mission in the country, General Stanley A McChrystal, and UN special envoy Kai Eide, NATO announced in a statement.

He was also due to meet other candidates for the presidential election scheduled for August 20, and with some of NATO's 64,500 ground troops.

Rasmussen formally became NATO secretary general on Saturday and began work on Monday.

One of his first moves was to call a press conference in which he outlined his priorities for his four years in office. Afghanistan was at the top of the list.

The fact that he chose Afghanistan as his first port of call just two days after he began work highlights the importance he places on the mission.

But his visit came at an unfortunate time, as residents in the war-torn southern province of Kandahar said that a NATO bomb attack had killed four civilians, including three children.

Later this month, Rasmussen is expected to visit Greece and Turkey as part of a diplomatic push to resolve their dispute over Cyprus. NATO officials hope that a reconciliation would convince them to stop vetoing cooperation between NATO and the European Union. (dpa)