BRUSSELS, Shawwal 15, 1435, Aug 11, 2014, SPA -- NATO will soon be forced to take a decision on a total pullout from Afghanistan unless a deadlock over the country's election ends and a new president signs an agreement allowing foreign forces to stay, Reuters quoted the head of the alliance as saying on Monday. Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told Reuters the Sept. 4-5 NATO summit in Wales would be very close to a deadline for taking that decision. "Soon we will have to take tough decisions because if there isn't a legal basis for our continued presence in Afghanistan, we will have to withdraw everything by the end of this year and to do that we will have to start planning ... very soon," he said, without giving a firm date. NATO will end its combat mission in Afghanistan by the end of this year but plans to leave behind a smaller force to train and advise Afghan security forces in their fight against Taliban insurgents. To stay beyond 2014, NATO says it needs the Afghan government to sign agreements with the United States and NATO providing a legal basis for foreign troops to stay. --SPA 21:33 LOCAL TIME 18:33 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w