Canada will decide by April whether or not to extend its mission in Afghanistan where 70 of its troops have died battling the Taliban, Canadian Defense Minister Peter MacKay said late on Monday.
He said the decision would be made by the time of the NATO summit in Romania in April. "It will be necessary to communicate a final decision before that meeting," said MacKay, cited by media.
Two opposition parties to the conservative government -- the Liberals and the Bloc Quebecois -- are demanding the mission not be renewed beyond February 2009 when its current mandate is due to expire.
A third, the New Democratic Party, has demanded an immediate withdrawal.
The issue is set to play a key role in a vote of confidence on Oct. 16 which could threaten the position of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's ruling conservative minority.
Harper has said he wants a consensus on the troops' deployment but also does not want to pull them out when he considers there job is not finished.
Canada has 2,500 troops in the south of the country, part of a large multinational presence patrolling the country and helping Afghans fight against the resurgent Taliban, who were toppled form power by the US-led 2001 invasion.
Since 2002, 70 Canadian troops have been killed in Afghanistan.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai last week urged the Canadians to stay beyond the end of the current term to prevent more unrest.
Tunisian President Kais Saied yesterday condemned a European Parliament resolution on human rights calling for the release of his critics as “blatant interference.” The EU Parliament resolution, voted by an overwhelming majority the day before, called for the release of lawyer Sonia Dahmani, a popular critic of Saied, who was freed from prison on Thursday, but remained under judicial supervision. “The European Parliament [resolution] is a blatant interference in our affairs,” Saied said. “They can learn lessons from us on rights and freedoms.” Saied’s condemnation also came two days after he summoned the EU’s ambassador for “failing to respect diplomatic rules.” He also
Tropical Storm Koto killed three people and left another missing as it approached Vietnam, authorities said yesterday, as strong winds and high seas buffeted vessels off the country’s flood-hit central coast. Heavy rains have lashed Vietnam’s middle belt in recent weeks, flooding historic sites and popular holiday destinations, and causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damage. Authorities ordered boats to shore and diverted dozens of flights as Koto whipped up huge waves and dangerous winds, state media reported. Two vessels sank in the rough seas, a fishing boat in Khanh Hoa province and a smaller raft in Lam Dong, according to the
Sri Lanka made an appeal for international assistance yesterday as the death toll from heavy rains and floods triggered by Cyclone Ditwah rose to 123, with another 130 reported missing. The extreme weather system has destroyed nearly 15,000 homes, sending almost 44,000 people to state-run temporary shelters, the Sri Lankan Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said. DMC Director-General Sampath Kotuwegoda said relief operations had been strengthened with the deployment of thousands of troops from the country’s army, navy and air force. “We have 123 confirmed dead and another 130 missing,” Kotuwegoda told reporters in Colombo. Cyclone Ditwah was moving away from the island yesterday and
‘HEART IS ACHING’: Lee appeared to baffle many when he said he had never heard of six South Koreans being held in North Korea, drawing criticism from the families South Korean President Lee Jae-myung yesterday said he was weighing a possible apology to North Korea over suspicions that his ousted conservative predecessor intentionally sought to raise military tensions between the war-divided rivals in the buildup to his brief martial law declaration in December last year. Speaking to reporters on the first anniversary of imprisoned former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol’s ill-fated power grab, Lee — a liberal who won a snap presidential election following Yoon’s removal from office in April — stressed his desire to repair ties with Pyongyang. A special prosecutor last month indicted Yoon and two of his top
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