ALMA ATA, Oct. 21 (Xinhuanet) -- NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said Thursday that the alliance plans to keep its military mission in Afghanistan in the foreseeable future and expand the deployment "to the west (of Afghanistan) up to Herat."

    The NATO chief made the comments after a meeting with Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov in Ashgabat, according to reports monitored here.

    Last month, protesters in Herat ransacked the UN office in the city after Kabul removed Ismail Khan from his post as governor of the province with the same name. Ismail Khan, a powerful warlord in the west, remains an important figure in the region.

    At a press conference after his meeting with Niyazov, de Hoop Scheffer said they discussed the issue of Turkmenistan providing land and air routes for NATO operations in Afghanistan.

    The NATO chief said his special representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia, Robert F. Simmons, will hold further talks on the issue with Turkmenistan.

    De Hoop Scheffer on Wednesday signed an agreement with Tajik President Emomali Rakhmonov on NATO's use of Tajikistan as a transport route for NATO troops in Afghanistan.

    De Hoop Scheffer also visited Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Enditem