Afghanistan expected to send defense minister to NATO summit --- (Reuters) - Afghanistan is expected to send its defense minister to a NATO summit in Wales this week, NATO officials said on Monday, after a political crisis dashed hopes that a newly-elected president could make his debut on the international stage there. -- Who, if anyone, would represent Afghanistan at a summit that will discuss the country's future had become a guessing game following the country's disputed presidential election. -- The summit on Thursday and Friday will mark the end of 13 years of combat in Afghanistan by U.S. and other foreign troops. -- The summit will open with a session on Afghanistan at which U.S. President Barack Obama and other NATO leaders will be joined by officials from 27 other countries as well as representatives from the United Nations and European Union. -- NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said last month that a new Afghan president would attend the summit if he took office in time. -- But that now appears impossible after it emerged on Monday that talks on a power-sharing deal between Afghanistan's rival presidential candidates had collapsed. -- "It has become clear that the electoral process in Afghanistan is very unlikely to reach its conclusion in time for a new Afghan president or president-elect to join us in Wales," said a senior NATO official briefing reporters on condition of anonymity. -- "We understand President (Hamid) Karzai has nominated Defense Minister Bismullah Khan Muhammadi to represent the Afghan government in Wales," the official said. - More, http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/01/us-nato-summit-afghanistan-idUSKBN0GW33J20140901