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International soldiers will be most likely to be needed in Afghanistan past 2014, the head of NATO said Friday, creating another political problem for the Harper government on the file.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen made the comment on the opening day of the NATO summit in Lisbon. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has been adamant that he intends for Canadian military trainers to be out of the country by March 2014.

While Rasmussen said it was "realistic" for NATO-led forces to hand over security to Afghan forces in 2014, he added: "But let me stress that I foresee presence of international troops also after 2014 but not in a combat role, in a more supportive (role), including training and education of Afghan security forces."

Foreign Minster Lawrence Cannon was adamant Canadian troops would not be staying past their withdrawal date.

"We've made it perfectly clear that we're out by March 2014," Cannon said.

However, Harper was similarly steadfast that Canadian soldiers would be out of Afghanistan by the earlier combat withdrawal date of July 2011.

There is a nine-month gap between when Canada wants to end its non-combat training mission in Afghanistan and when NATO plans its drawdown.

During a bilateral meeting on Friday morning, Harper advised Rasmussen that Canada supports the drawdown plan, provided that it can endure.

A Harper spokesperson told reporters that the prime minister "noted the desire for an effective and sustainable transfer of security to Afghan authorities," during the Friday morning meeting.

However, a senior NATO official told reporters Harper did not specify in the meeting that Canadian trainers would only stay in Afghanistan to March 2014.

"He (Harper) made clear that this was a commitment by Canada to see the campaign through to a successful conclusion," said the official, who attended the meeting.

"We didn't get into whether that's three years or whatever. But he did make clear this was a significant commitment by Canada to try and support the campaign over the next few years."

But Dimitri Soudas, the prime minister's chief spokesperson, had a different view of the meeting.

"The prime minister was crystal clear with the secretary general of NATO that Canada's non-combat training role will end in March 2014," said Soudas.

The NATO official said it was "impossible for us to say" what the military situation in Afghanistan will look like in three or four years.

"We won't work out for several months the level of international forces likely to be required in 2012, let alone by 2014."NATO is expected to pitch a plan to its member nations on Saturday that will aim to have Afghanistan slowly take over its security needs starting next year.

CTV's Roger Smith that Afghan security forces will start taking control in areas that are deemed to be safer, while waiting to take over the more difficult areas in time.

"That of, course, will require a lot of training to get the Afghan army and police into shape and Canada's offering 950 soldiers as military trainers to help with that job," Smith reported from Lisbon, Portugal, where a two-day NATO summit is taking place.

Cannon told CTV's Canada AM that Canada had impressed its NATO peers with its commitment to provide training to Afghan troops.

"Secretary General Rasmussen was very, very appreciative of Canada's decision to continue on with a non-combat mission in terms of the training capacity," Cannon said in a telephone interview from Lisbon.

"We received high, high marks from him as well as from other partners in NATO on that regard."

Too little time?

But some critics say that Afghanistan cannot possibly ready to stand on its own by the end of 2014, an ambitious timeline that Rideau Institute president Steven Staples says is even being questioned by senior soldiers.

"Really when you read closely and you listen to the comments from the U.S. military leaders, they are quietly saying that 2014 is probably not all that realistic as well," Staples told Â鶹´«Ã½ Channel during an interview from Ottawa on Friday morning.

There is also concern in the Afghan population about whether its national security forces can handle the burden that is currently being carried by NATO forces.

New research from the International Council on Security and Development indicates that more than six in 10 Afghans surveyed in Helmand and Kandahar provinces believe Afghan security forces "won't be able to provide security when foreign troops leave."

But a Friday report by Globe and Mail reporter Susan Sachs indicates that NATO may be willing to support Afghan security forces well beyond 2014.

A senior NATO official told the newspaper that the military alliance may offer Afghanistan long-term training assistance and funding to ensure that its security forces are fully prepared for future challenges. But the official said there may be less need for such assistance as the Afghan security forces and police become more skilled.

Also Saturday, Afghan President Hamid Karzai is due to address the NATO summit and to outline his government's plans for co-operating with the NATO handover.

Karzai recently made critical comments about the tactics the Americans have been using in his country and Smith said NATO will be looking for the Afghan leader to "cool his criticism of the mission."

Smith said NATO members will also want to hear about the ways Karzai will crack down on corruption and how he will "step up the effort to make sure his government can stand on its own within three years."

Canadian officials have indicated they, too, want to hear an assurance from Karzai that he is committed to aiding the transition that will take place over the next few years.

The Afghan president is due to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama in Lisbon.

Harper's office has not said if the prime minister will meet with the Afghan leader.

NDP wants budget audit

The NDP wants Parliament's budget watchdog to calculate the cost of extending Canada's military mission in Afghanistan.

NDP foreign affairs critic Paul Dewar says he's asked Kevin Page to clarify the price tag of the three-year extension because he doesn't trust the conflicting estimates offered by the Harper government.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay initially said it would cost up to $500 million per year to keep 950 military personnel in Afghanistan on a training mission until 2014, three years beyond the previously scheduled July 2011 end date for the combat mission.

International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda then added another $300 million over three years in development assistance, bringing the annual tab to $600 million.

However, a spokesperson for Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon subsequently emailed reporters to clarify that the extension will cost an estimated $700 million annually over three years and that "final costs will not be known until after 2014."

"What we need is to have the parliamentary budget officer take a look at the government's numbers to make sure that we're actually getting truth here," Dewar said Friday.

"Clearly, we need to cut through the confusion... because apparently the Conservatives can't add or they can't even quote each other on the numbers."

With files from The Associated Press and The Canadian Press