BELGIUM: Austrialia to talk about Afghanistan troops with NATO

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer held a meeting with EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana on Monday (September 25, 2006) in Brussels. High on the agenda will be Australia's military role in Afghanistan. Australia has about 400 soldiers in Afghanistan but said recently it did not plan to send any more following calls by NATO for extra troops from the Alliance countries. Downer has stated previously this month while meeting with Canadian Foreign Minister Peter MacKay that countries battling the Taliban cannot just cut and run from Afghanistan unless they want to hand terrorists a major victory. He continued to remark that without the presence of foreign forces the country would revert to the Taliban. Both countries have forces in Afghanistan, but Canada has suffered more casualties as its forces are in the more violent Kandahar region in the south. Downer is due to travel to Helsinki to meet the rotating EU presidency to discuss cooperation and international security and to encourage close engagement on issues relevant to the Asia-Pacific region. Downer said Finland has been judged the most competitive economy in Europe and is an important trade and investment partner for Australia. He is also due to meet the NATO Secretary General.

ITN Source | September 25, 2006

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