KABUL, March 1 (Xinhuanet) -- The Afghan government has been advocating for the long-term US partnership with the post-war central Asian state, a ranking official disclosed Tuesday.

    "For the consolidation of peace and security and for the long-term rebuilding of the institutions of state we do need a long-term friendship with the United States," presidential spokesman Jawed Ludin told reporters at a press conference here.

    He made this comment just a week after US senator John McCaine's tour to Afghanistan during which he called for the establishmentof permanent US military bases in the post-Taliban nation.

    "The United States has played a leading role in liberating Afghanistan from the clutch of terrorists. The United States has been generously contributing in rebuilding Afghanistan and Afghanistan needs the US lasting support to ensure durable stability in the country," Ludin stressed.

    However, he avoided to clearly explain the Afghan government'sstance on the subject by saying "it is too early to go into details."

    Nonetheless, the spokesman noted that the "strategic partnership covers cooperation in all fields."

    At present more than 18,000 US-led foreign troops with majorityof whom being deployed in the militants-plaguing south, southeast and eastern provinces of Afghanistan where Taliban's loyalists are active since the ouster of the fundamentalist regime from power in late 2001.

    To further facilitate the US engagement in Afghanistan, the Afghan Foreign Ministry allocated over 3,000 square meters of plotto the US administration last week in the Afghan capital city of Kabul, local media reported. Enditem