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Kabul peacekeeping talks ongoing
KABUL, Afghanistan -- A British army general is due to meet two key figures in Kabul's interim authority on Monday to discuss a possible peacekeeping force. Major General John McColl is set to hold talks with defence minister Mohammad Fahim and foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah. He is leading a team of 12 officials to Kabul to work out the size of any international peacekeeping team and its relationship with the interim authority. He met with interim Afghan leader Hamid Karzai on Sunday after arriving at Bagram airport the night before.
The general said in a statement read at the gates of the British embassy compound on Sunday: "I am heading up a reconnaissance and planning team which includes representatives from some of the countries at the original meeting, specifically France, Canada and Italy. "I am here to assess and discuss the size, composition and role of the force." It is hoped arrangements might be finalised in time for the first foreign troops, under the banner of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), to be in place when the Afghan interim administration takes office on December 22. "It's a short visit and my intention is to ensure a meeting of minds with some of the key representatives from the future interim administration, but I would stress that at this stage no firm decisions have been made," the commander of 3 (UK) division added. "We will also be looking at the practicalities of such a mission, the timelines and the logistics. "It's an immensely complicated task and I do not underestimate the level of difficulty in such a deployment by air over such long distances." No further details were available. The West and Afghanistan are at odds as to the size of any peacekeeping force. Fahim has said no more than 1,000 peacekeepers will be needed in his country to provide security for the new administration. Some contributors have been putting potential numbers at about 8,000. But U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the force could be no more than 5,000 during his talks with Karzai at Bagram airport on Sunday. The United States is cautious about committing its own troops as peacekeepers while the military campaign against Afghanistan's former Taliban rulers is in full swing. Rumsfeld said the force, mandated under the U.N.-sponsored power-sharing agreement reached last week in Bonn, would be made up from forces from four to five countries with the United States not being directly involved. He is the first senior American official to visit since Afghan and U.S. forces toppled the Taliban from power last month. He was met by designated defence minister Mohammad Fahim. |
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