Canada has urged NATO to provide more support to its mission in Afghanistan or it may withdraw its troops from the restive southern Kandahar region.
Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper made the position clear on Thursday during talks with NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Harper spokeswoman Sandra Buckler said on Friday.
"The prime minister was clear that a failure to meet these conditions would result in the end of the Canadian mission a year from now," she said.
On Thursday, de Hoop Scheffer was briefed about an independent panel's report that Canada would prolong its current mission in Afghanistan only if NATO provided additional manpower and more equipment for Canada, Buckler said.
Harper appointed an independent five-member panel in October to review Canada's role when its mission expires in February 2009.
The panel said on Jan. 22 that Canadian troops should stay and focus on training Afghan forces, while calling on NATO to send about 1,000 troops to help Canada in the Kandahar province as a condition.
De Hoop Scheffer has agreed to do whatever he could to ensure Canada's mission to continue in Afghanistan, Buckler said.
"The Secretary General said he took the panel report ... seriously, and that he is committed to doing whatever he can to ensure that Canada is able to meet the conditions set by the panel," the spokeswoman added.
On Wednesday, Harper told U.S. President George W. Bush in a phone conversation that Canada will not extend its mission in Afghanistan without more troops from NATO.
The opposition parties say Canada's mission should end by the February 2009 deadline with the focus then shifting to aid and development. Harper has promised a vote in parliament on the matter.
Canada's 2,500 soldiers are based in Afghanistan's southern Kandahar region as part of NATO's 37,000-troop mission to fight Taliban remnants. Since 2002, 78 Canadian soldiers and a Canadian diplomat have died there.
Source: Xinhua
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