I can't do without you...

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen speaks to the media during a news conference at a seminar on SACT February 28, 2012 in Washington, DC. (Alex Wong)

WASHINGTON - NATO's top civilian official on Tuesday praised U.S and allied troops in Afghanistan for showing "remarkable restraint" in the face of anti-coalition violence following the burning of Muslim holy books at a NATO base.  The NATO chief echoed the Obama administration's stay-the-course theme on Afghanistan, insisting that the breakdown in trust between the allies and the Afghans, as evidenced by Saturday's shooting in the Interior Ministry, would be overcome.

"We will not allow the extremists to weaken our resolve," he said. "We will continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our Afghan partners, and we will not lose sight of our shared goal. We are in Afghanistan to build stability and security for the Afghan people, which is in the interest of our own security."

He said Saturday's shooting, following a series of incidents in which other allied troops have been shot by their supposed Afghan partners, "does not represent the daily picture" of cooperation on security and other issues.

The withdrawal of advisers is temporary and "will not in any way affect the timeline" for giving the Afghan government full responsibility for security across the country by the end of 2014, he said.